The return of the Volturi
by angelofdeath8254
Summary: The Cullens have managed to scare off the Volturi before...it is now a century later, and the Volturi have come for their revenge...
1. The new Cullens

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All I am doing is using Stephanie Meyer's characters to continue on from where Breaking Dawn has ended. This fan fic assumes that you have read all the books of the Twilight Saga and understand it fully, otherwise there will be references in here that you won't understand. angelofdeath8254**

**This chapter will be the first of many chapters in this story that will be re-edited! **

**The return of the Volturi**

Chapter 1- The new Cullens

**Bella Cullen**

My bare chest was resting on top of Edward's. Even after a century, I still couldn't stop marvelling at his smooth, satin soft body, still couldn't stop enjoying the taste of Edward's scent on my tongue, but most of all, a century wasn't enough for me to appreciate every bit of Edward. And he was mine. Mine alone.

We were, as we were every night since we got back, making love in the beautiful cottage that Esme had given for my nineteenth birthday. It had been so good to be able to get back to Forks after leaving it 95 years ago, when Carlisle had said that it would be nice to go up to Denali and get to stay with our Denali 'cousins' for a longer period of time.

Edward let out a load moan as we rolled over, putting him on top of me. I could just see the sun rising over the horizon, causing hundreds of orangey rays to be spread across the sky, illuminating it like a Chinese lantern.

"Renesmee will be barging in with a vengeance if we don't get back into the house," I said, reluctantly rolling of Edward. I still remember how embarrassing it was when Renesmee first did that, annoyed that we were ignoring her. Emmett had been talking innuendoes non-stop for the next month.

Edward let out a low chuckle as he remembered that time, and rolled his eyes, his tousled bronze hair shimmering in the sunlight.

"She's still sleeping. But I see what you mean," Edward replied, laughing, pulling me on top of him.

"We definitely do not need another Emmett moment," I agreed. I stood up, pulling Edward up with me, as I ran to the monstrous closet so thoughtfully provided by Alice. Even after a century, I still saw no point to it. But there was never any point to deny Alice.

As we reached the massive double doors of our closet, there were several muted thuds on our cottage door. I looked at Edward, inquisitive. Edward smirked slightly at my expression.

"It's Angela and Ben. They didn't want to-er-catch us unprepared." The next second, Edward and I were laughing our heads off. Emmett may have seen the funny side of Renesmee watching us having sex, but we also had our own jokes. I brushed my long brown hair out of my face, and grabbed the first dress that I saw. Pulling down the plastic cover, I saw it was a floor length midnight blue gown.

"Alice..." I hissed. "She replaced my stuff!"

"Well...that dress'll look lovely," Edward laughed. I watched as he collapsed into pointless bout of laughter, before my grumpy expression silenced that.

"You knew she changed it, didn't you? You knew Alice removed the pieces of clothing that she deemed "inappropriate" to wear," I wailed. There were more muted thuds on the door. I realised that Edward and I had completely forgotten Angela and Ben at the front door.

"Coming!" I yelled in panic. Hastily, I shoved the midnight blue dress on, screwing the fact that it was a totally silly outfit, and ran to the door, pulling the wooden door open.

"Ange, Ben," I greeted them. Angela and Ben grinned back ruefully, fully aware of what had transpired. Of all the Cullens at the house (plus Jacob), they were the only ones who didn't seem to joke about what we did every night. After all, Edward and I were aware that they shared the same tender love for each other that we did. They were two halves of the whole too.

"Alice has news," Ben said. From the worried expression on his face mirrored on Angela's as well, I realised there was something wrong.

"What did she see?" Edward asked, his arm wrapping around my waist as he met Ange and Ben at the door. I turned to stare at Edward, astonishment breaking across my face. If Alice hadn't told Ange and Ben, it must mean that she wanted to tell us all at once. And if that was the case something big was going on. As I returned my astonished stare onto Angela, Renesmee stood behind us, hand raised in question. This feeling of choking panic was similar to the one I felt a century earlier, when Angela and Ben were attacked, and turned into vampires. It was déjà vu.

**One hundred years earlier**

_As I drove my red Ferrari down the snowy road, I could barely take my eyes off Edward. The utter feeling of doom and fear that I had felt when the Volturi had come to hurt our Renesmee was fading, as I realised not only would we survive, but that I would have eternity to spend with Edward, and time to watch my beautiful daughter grow up._

"_Bella," Edward murmured, stroking my face. A ripple of desire ran down my entire system, making me shiver in anticipation. Meanwhile, in the back seat, Jacob was muttering softly to Renesmee, but he had raised his head slightly, and coughed to get our attention._

"_What is it?" I snapped as I turned around. I was slightly angry as Jacob had interrupted my reunion with Edward. Jacob ignored my expression and instead gave me a sarcastic reply._

"_If you're really trying to crash this Ferrari could you do it another way? At least not doing...your...business...in the front seat!"_

_While I was irritated at Jacob, I could see that he had a point. Although occupied, I was unlikely to crash the Ferrari, and while I really wasn't interested in how flashy it was, it would still make me very guilty if I crashed it (maybe I might be a little too occupied to check the steering wheel...). After all, it was a Ferrari, and who knows how much it cost Edward to buy it? I wouldn't want to waste several hundred thousands of dollars, even if the Cullens were million (or was it billionaires? How would I know how much they had?)_

_A sudden low and menacing growl from Edward returned my attention to him. I was shocked by the fact that Edward's mouth was bared in a menacing growl, and there was a deep fury in his beautiful golden eyes._

"_Are they back? The Volturi?" I asked panicked, as Jacob practically stiffened into a stiff board in the back seat._

_Edward turned to me, his eyes still clearly worrying about something else. He turned towards me, eyes now on my face. _

"_Jane," he spat out, spitting out as one would spit out a piece of chewing gum they were finished with._

"_What is it, Edward?" Jacob asked, his hands shaking. "Is that bloodsucker hunting on our lands?"_

_Edward turned to me, faced agonised._

"_Angela's house. Jane is torturing Angela and Ben, and intends to feed on them after she's done. She's very annoyed at the way things turned out today- she wants to have fun with her "prey". It doesn't help that there is a faint trace of your human scent there, making her feel as if she were hurting someone that you cared about."_

"_What?" As my voice shot out through two octaves, my foot slammed onto the accelerator. With a wild snarl, my Ferrari shot forward even faster, the speedometer rising steadily, the snow covered trees flashing by._

_When I arrived at the corner of Angela's house, there was a loud screech as the protesting tyres of my Ferrari turned left, hurrying to Angela's house. With the increased room in my head, there were so many different thoughts whirling around. What if we went to the house only to find two drained corpses lying cold and bruised on the floor...What if Jane decided to stay and fight?...What if she hurt Renesmee?_

_I focused my sensitive ears towards the house, and I cringed as I heard first Angela then Ben scream out in terror and pain. My fury rose up, crimson and powerful. Using this anger, I thrust out my shield, covering Angela and Ben with its protective cover. They were safe from Jane's burning gift. Now all they needed were the help of some vampires and a werewolf._

_I slammed my foot heavily onto the brakes. The screech from the tyres echoed down the street, but I paid little attention of that fact as I pulled open my car door, running to the Weber's house, Edward, Jacob and Renesmee behind me. I heard a low snarl from upstairs._

_I crashed through Angela's bedroom door. Jane, with her angelic face and her dark robes stood there, holding a semi-conscious Angela in her hands. There was blood smeared across her lips, and her burgundy eyes glowed with a deep menace. I was aware of the delicious yet taboo smell of human blood. Holding my breath, I leapt at Jane, nothing but hatred in my thoughts._

_Jane returned my snarl as she threw Angela across the room. Angela's head hit the wall with a loud crack, and a small part of my brain wondered whether or not Jane smashed her skull in. The rest of my brain wanted Jane dead, wanted to see her burning in her own pyre of choking purple fire._

_Something warm and hard shoved me away from Jane, causing me to crash into the wall._

"_Jacob!" I screeched in terror and anger. Jane was mine! The scent of human blood distracted me as I took a large gulp of oxygen. Looking down, I saw Ben lying on the floor, a scream at the corners of his mouth. I could see the crescent shaped bite marks on his neck, but I was aware of a deep thudding sound from his heart. He was alive._

_This news snapped me out of my vengeful mood. I cradled Ben in my arms, and I saw Edward do the same with Angela. I looked towards Jacob and I saw he was occupied with Jane, but instinct told me that Jane was trying to escape, trying to get past the massive russet werewolf determined to stop her._

"_Trying to get back to Aro," I muttered under my breath. Edward gave me a tiny nod and motioned to the window._

"_We need to get Angela and Ben to the house," he said. I nodded, and jumped out of the window. _

**After finishing this story, I decided that it might be worthwhile to re-check the chapters. I haven't changed this chapter much; I've only really fixed some little typos that were pointed out by several people. Hope you keep reading, and please review!**


	2. Alice's Revelation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All I am doing is using Stephanie Meyer's characters to continue on from where Breaking Dawn has ended. This fan fic assumes that you have read all the books of the Twilight Saga and understand it fully, otherwise there will be references in here that you won't understand. angelofdeath8254**

Chapter 2- Alice's Revelation

_As Edward and I leapt gracefully from the window of the Weber's house, I was aware that Renesmee was waiting for us, an anxious look on her face as she peered up the window and waited for us to land._

"_Jacob is fine," I choked to her as I carried Ben to my Ferrari. Already, I was aware of the fact that Ben was stirring, his body reacting to the burning venom that was pumping its way throughout his system. I shuddered slightly as I recalled the hideous fire that raced through my body when I was changing...how I just wanted it to end...to die..._

"_Bella?" Edward said in a low voice. His velvet voice, strained with worry snapped me out of those memories of fire._

"_Sorry," I mumbled guiltily. "Let's get Ben in." _

_I helped Edward buckle Ben in, a small part of my brain worried about that fact that the pale leather seats of my car may end up being stained with _human _blood, as he turned towards Renesmee._

"_Can up keep him quiet, Nessie?" Edward asked, his voice strained. Renesmee placed her hand on Edward's neck and nodded._

"_Of course Momma. Daddy. I will do the same with Momma's friend," she said, pointing to Angela, who was already strapped in._

_I gave her a strained smile as a wild, triumphant yell echoed throughout the street. I froze, only to see a dull grey blur fly out of a window, and flee into the safety of the forest._

"_Damn," I heard a low voice mutter. Turning around, I saw Jacob standing just next to the Ferrari, staring at the direction that Jane had disappeared to, arms crossed._

"_Bloody bloodsucker escaped," he hissed, anxiously looking into the interior of the Ferrari._

"_I'm going to need to see Sam. He'll need to know why there will be two more vampires in Forks in three days, and I need to make sure he doesn't blame you guys." Jacob looked at me, Edward and Renesmee._

"_Nessie," he whispered to Renesmee. "Stay with Bella. Take care."_

_We all watched as Jacob exploded into that familiar russet brown wolf, and we watched in silence as it disappeared into the snow encrusted forest, leaving nothing but a set of paw prints to even show that he was there._

**Present time**

I sucked my panic down, concealing it from view. No need to stress Renesmee and Edward out any further.At least, I thought, Angela and Ben survived their encounter with Jane, although it had been very awkward explaining the vampire life to them. But that was the past. I am in the present now, with a future that suddenly seemed in danger of being lost.

"Alice won't tell us anything until we're all there. She's also getting Seth to get Jacob here," Ben said. His eyes flickered from side to side, and I watched as he instinctively circled around Angela protectively. She let out a small sigh, and gave me a short grin.

I grasped Edward's familiar hand, and ran through the forest that separated us from our house, Angela, Ben and Renesmee by our side. I was too strained this time to enjoy the feeling of the soft, velvety ground beneath my bare feet, too worried to feel all the small organisms of life that surrounded us, bright and pulsing, shrinking away as we got near...

I let go of Edward's hand as we reached the river that surrounded the Cullens house, and made a traditional leap through the air, landing softly on the green grass. I was aware that both Angela and Ben had somersaulted, giggling over the river, while Renesmee leapt through the air, flying like a bird. As we touched down on the lawn, we saw Carlisle greet us, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"You're the last ones here. Alice is waiting for you," he said, face expressionless. I could see Carlisle chewing anxiously on his lip.

As we entered the main room, there Alice was, standing grimly behind the sofa, rocking slowly from side to side. Next to me, Edward let out a choked exclamation, as he read Alice's mind. Several pairs of yellow eyes stared at him anxiously, their expressions suddenly changing from blank and expressionless to clouded with worry.

I looked at Alice and saw that her eyes were unfocused. She was clearing looking into the future, but even from here, I could see the light of fear in her yellow eyes. Alice blinked, and suddenly her eyes flashed to my face, now in the present.

"The Volturi," Alice said simply, but each word landed heavily, imposing on me like a hammer, forcing the implications to be known. I slid my hand into Renesmee's burning hot one. The loud silence in the room was more than enough to convey everyone's reaction.

"They've come for revenge," I whispered in a hushed voice. Did this mean that I might lose my future to the Volturi, like I almost lost it when the Volturi came previously? I stared at Edward, panic rising from within, but he just stood there, still, like a statue. A beautiful carved statue that I refused to let the Volturi shatter just for their greedy ambition.

"I scared them off last time. With my shield, I can protect everyone," I said, trying to allay everyone's fear. But it was true. In our last encounter with the Volturi, my powerful mental shield had rendered their powers useless, and Aro, like a coward, had sent the Volturi running back to Italy. We had all the advantages in this confrontation too. I couldn't see what was different this time, and I was more than confident with the protective powers of my shield.

"You can't protect the whole world, Bella," Edward said, suddenly moving. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and it made me feel safe, but a ripple of desire ran up my body, and I wanted to make sure that the Volturi wouldn't take this away from me, wouldn't take my passion for Edward away with his death.

"What do you mean?" But I didn't need to ask. I already knew the answer. My mind flashed back to a conversation over a century ago.

"_They've been seriously shaken; their confidence is shattered. But, yes, I'm sure they'll recover from that blow someday. And then..." Edward's eyes had tightened. "I imagine they'll try to pick us off separately."_

The Volturi weren't trying to defeat the Cullens as a whole. They intended to pick us off, one by one, everyone who had played a role in the Volturi's humiliation that day. By the time we may have noticed, it could've been too late, if it weren't for Alice's visions warning us.

"Edward...you mean they'll just pick us off separately?" I asked, seeking confirmation. On the couch, I could see Emmett's and Jacob's faces light up in excitement at the prospect of a fight, a battle. They would be the ones to really enjoy this fight if it ever got started.

Edward's mouth opened, to reply, but Alice interrupted in her fast trill.

"I've called you now because they have already attacked. The Volturi has already struck. Yesterday, I was only seeing flashes, as if someone was changing their mind, trying to decide on how they would strike, but this was also a very effective way of stopping me from knowing what was happening until it was too late. It was only now that I could see what had happened. The Volturi are currently chasing Benjamin and Tia. They just managed to escape, while Kebi and Amun...they were slaughtered like pigs at the butcher, sitting ducks for the Volturi guards."

I let out a pained cry. I saw Esme raise her hand to her mouth, and gasp, shock in her eyes, as she stared at Carlisle. Carlisle even looked shaken. There was a reluctance on his face to accept Alice's information, as if Carlisle never expected the Volturi to attack without reason.

"They've broken their own rules. The Volturi must be punished," Angela said, fierce determination on her face as she remembered what had happened the time that a member of the Volturi lost control of their temper. She had lost her human life, her family and friends. The fact had always saddened her, and of all the Cullens, Angela was the one that could emphasise with Rosalie. Angela had never wanted this life, never wanted to be a vampire. "I wonder what I would feel about them if I went near...from what I hear, it'll probably be greed and power."

My thoughts went along the same lines as Angela. As a human, she was always very perceptive of the people around her, something that had made me very uncomfortable as a human trying to hide the secret of her vampire boyfriend. When she was turned into a vampire, Edward had found out that Angela had the ability to gauge the personality of someone near- Angela had immediately stated all my core traits and personality with an accuracy that unnerved me. She was now able to, if she got within a several mile radius, to state the type of person someone was, and somehow it was a physical thing, like Alice seeing the future, so my shield didn't immune me to that ability.

"Maybe jealousy too. Aro was- and is-very jealous of the Cullens here, and he doesn't even know that we've expanded here too," I replied, motioning to Angela and Ben, although personally, I didn't think that Aro wanted to know the personality of any of the enemies they faced. They were just wrong-doers, to him.

"What are we going to do about Benjamin and Tia? We can't leave them helpless with Demetri tracking them," Esme asked. Alice glanced at her as she answered.

"They are flying to Seattle. From the flashes that I have been seeing, I think the Volturi intend to go to Anchorage. To the Denali's. Caius was very eager of the thought that more of them would die. He wants to get rid of them as he got rid of Irina."

I hissed, as did Edward. Irina's destruction by Caius's order still disturbed me to this day. I felt a savage urge to rip Caius's head off, to see his body burning up in a pyre of choking fire...

"Bella..." Jasper warned. "Calm down." I felt a wave of calm flood over me as Jasper worked his ability on me. Jasper was right. I needed to control my temper and the savage urge to kill. I let the calm flood that Jasper was producing overwhelm my body and calm me down.

"So are we going to meet Benjamin and Tia at Seattle?" Rosalie asked, her beautiful face motionless.

"It would also be an idea to get everyone involved in the confrontation a century ago to get here. We will have more chance of survival if we still together. Bella might even be able to nullify Demetri's ability if we can stick together, so the Volturi will have trouble finding everyone," Carlisle asked. I flashed a grin at him. I liked Carlisle's idea. I wanted to be able to protect everyone that I loved and knew, and it would be great to see Aro and Caius frown.

"Then the Volturi will figure out that we're here anyway," Edward snapped back. I stared deep into his golden eyes, trying to convince him that this way was the best option available.

"Then they'll come here. If they don't we might as well get killed. Think of all the innocent humans that could get killed as the Volturi hunts. Here, they have less chance of hurting humans and us. We will have more chance of we stick together. I _will_ be able to protect you. I will protect everyone. Please, Edward, let me protect our friends!" Edward's eyes left mine as my speech progressed.

"Edward, listen to me! They Volturi will divide and conquer us! We must stick together!" I continued.

Sometimes, I felt that Edward was way too overprotective. I couldn't get anything done or said, so in desperation, I flung out my shield away from me, and let my thoughts and opinions flow into my brain. Edward would be able to hear my opinion and the emotions that came with it.

"Edward, she's right," Alice said clearly, but with a tone of authority. There were several low mutters of "Listen to Alice," around the room and finally, Edward set his pale face in defeat.

"Carlisle, contact everyone who helped us with the Volturi a century ago," Edward said with a sense of finality.


	3. Their story

**Comments from the writer:**** I've been really trying to get this chapter up and running as quickly as possible and it's great to hear positive feedback! **** It really makes my day to read that my story is enjoyed. The next chapter may not come as quickly – my school and personal life have gotten very hectic and needs urgent sorting! AC**

Chapter 3 – Their Story

I paced around the area near the front door, moving in nothing more than a pale blur, as I waited for Carlisle, Edward and Jasper to return from Seattle's airport. I could feel the tension within my body rise to a new high without Jasper to calm me down, without Edward to release my tension into desire...

Jacob and Renesmee stared at me warily, worried that I might snap at any moment , Renesmee's chocolate brown eyes already burning with a question that Jacob was likely to answer any minute now as she placed her hand on his neck.

"Your Momma's just nervous," Jacob murmured, giving Renesmee another tender kiss on the lips when he thought I wasn't looking. I let out a pent up breath loud enough for him to hear. If Jacob didn't want me to see him kissing my daughter he better work harder on trying. I definitely was not the clumsy Bella of old, with her weak human senses...I was a vampire, and I could definitely hear them kissing on the couch.

I ranged my hearing out further, away from the sounds of kissing , determined to hear Carlisle's Mercedes driving down the highway. Instead, I heard the slight cracking of branches as something fast and powerful ran at near invisible speeds... probably a werewolf. I picked up the pattern and gait of the footsteps and came to the conclusion that Seth was running to the house. Seconds later, there was a loud pounding on the door.

"Seth," Esme smiled, her heart-shaped face lighting up as she pulled open the door. "What can we do for you today?"

Seth turned and looked straight at Jacob, chest heaving.

"Sam needs you at La Push _now. _If the Volturi are coming, we need to prepare, and Sam wants our packs working together."

Jacob grunted slightly in annoyance. Gently holding Renesmee, he kissed her passionately, Renesmee responding with a groan. I faked a loud clear cough, and Jacob looked up startled, as I pointed to the door, my face blank.

"Out. Get to Sam now!" I commanded, my arm not shaking slightly as I pointed to the door. Seeing my annoyed expression, Jacob left without a word, following Seth silently into the slight drizzle outside as I slammed the door shut.

I felt, rather than heard Alice's silent entry into the room. She was holding a small black cell phone.

"They'll be here in five minutes," Alice said. I let out a sigh of relief. I would be seeing Edward shortly.

"Everything fine with Benjamin and Tia?" I asked. Alice nodded, but I thought I saw a flash of fear on her face. I watched as Alice left the room, and felt that deep down, that not only had Alice seen something, she was also concerned about it. Now what was going on?

Alice's promised five minutes disappeared slowly like dripping lead tracing a slivery path down a sheet of paper. I continued my frenzied pacing near the front door, only stopping when I heard the loud screech of tires within the Cullens' garage.

Seconds later, Edward burst through the front door, followed by Carlisle, Jasper, and finally Benjamin and Tia. But it was their appearance that left me gasping and feeling horrified.

Benjamin looked nothing like the cheerful vampire that I last saw ten years ago. Instead, I could see the hallows of pain deep within his pitch black eyes, as well as a set of crescent shaped marks that ran down his left arm, an indication of a terrible fight. Tia was looking no better. The pain in her eyes was identical to Benjamin's, but there weren't that many bite marks on her arm. Still, the sight made me shudder slightly. It was obvious that they had escaped by the tiniest margin possible, saved by Benjamin's powerful gift of controlling the elements, something that even I couldn't stop.

"Oh my gosh! Benjamin! Tia!" I heard Angela yell out in her melodious voice, as she ran down the wooden staircase, Ben right behind her, identical expressions of horror on their faces.

"What happened to you?" Ben demanded as he scanned both Benjamin and Tia. Beside him, Angela was rocking slightly, as she evaluated how Benjamin and Tia were affected on the inside.

"I am so sorry," Angela whispered, as her rocking stopped. Benjamin looked sadly at her and the compassion etched on her face.

Benjamin turned to face Ben.

"Basically what happened was that the Volturi attacked us. Physically, the only scars I have are these." He motioned to his crescent scars. "But mentally? The Volturi have permanently affected Tia and I. Vampires are like rock, never changing. This loss has branded us for eternity, has changed us. We are like pieces of rock with the centres dug out of them."

Tia was nodding in agreement, her eyes downcast. She looked up as she spoke, a deep sated need for revenge in her eyes, as well as fear.

"Benjamin and I have been changed. You do not know what it feels like to have another vampire's teeth in your arm, intent on ripping it, you do not know what it feels like to actually _fear _death, to actually believe you will die. Even with Jasper helping, I cannot contain the fear. And knowing that the Volturi intend to do this to everyone involved in their humiliation a century ago...it makes the fear surpass almost anything imaginable."

Benjamin wrapped his arm around her waist, comforting her. I could see the pain in Edward's eyes as he read their thoughts and emotions, as he read what they were going through.

"Benjamin, Tia, I don't think this will help at all, but you need to hunt. I will go with you, just in case," Carlisle murmured gently, interrupting. Both Tia and Benjamin smiled at Carlisle's offer.

"It is very kind of you. Of course we will hunt," Benjamin replied. Carlisle reopened the front door and stepped out, Benjamin and Tia following, hands conjoined. As the door shut with a click, I turned to Edward.

"What did he say?" I asked flatly. I hadn't missed Carlisle's meaningful look towards Edward. Edward's golden eyes flashed to mine.

"That I need to explain our new problem," Edward stated, as his face turned away from mine.

"What problem?" I connected Edward's problem to whatever Alice had seen. "What did Alice see earlier? Has it got something to do with this?"

To think that several days ago my main worry was getting re-enrolled into Forks High again! How problems could arise so quickly!

"Yes," Alice said bleakly. I turned to look at her, as Rosalie and Emmett joined us in the main room.

"What it is?" Rosalie demanded annoyed. I was getting annoyed too. Couldn't Alice get on with the explanation and stop rambling? I just wanted to know what was going on so I could join in and help.

"We have to call off our original plan of getting everyone here to fight the Volturi together. It turns out that they have a very powerful new recruit which was the reason why that Amun and Kebi got killed so quickly. This person is so powerful that the best way of survival is _not _to be together, otherwise he will kill us quite a bit faster."

Fear pulsed within me, and I felt Renesmee's burning hand on my arm, also conveying her fear and her curiosity of how one vampire could be so powerful. I began to have an inkling of how Benjamin and Tia were feeling now. The fear. It simply just over takes you, replaces all your thoughts and emotions, making it the only thing that you would feel. I placed my other hand in Edward's, determined to have at least some contact with him. Edward felt my desire, as we stood shoulder to shoulder, touching each other.

"Who is this powerful new recruit?" Emmett asked, excitement at the corners of his voice. I growled, as did Edward towards him. Emmett sounded cheerful, looking forward to a new challenge. If Jacob was going to react like that I might just rip his head off, imprinted or not to my daughter.

"This powerful new recruit," Edward snapped, determined to place the gravity of the situation upon Emmett, "has the ability to basically gauge someone's strength and skills and fight in a way that they can completely and utterly dominate and overpower a vampire, even a newborn and kill them with not much trouble. From what I gleamed from Benjamin, he actually had to call up a very powerful fire storm just to distract the guy long enough to escape with Tia. He had to keep using the elements to escape as the Volturi followed them towards Cairo. It is a total miracle that they are here right now."

"What?" Seeing Emmett's face, I saw that Edward's statement took him by surprise. I could even see the worry in his eyes. This was a bad sign, if _Emmett _felt fear, but at least he was taking this threat seriously.

"It's a physical thing," I stated sighing as I crossed my arms. It explained the utter fear in Benjamin and Tia's eyes, as they knew clearly about my abilities and what it could stop.

Edward inclined his head slightly, as he grimaced in agreement.

"What is the point of having this shield if all of a sudden everyone is having a physical ability?" I yelled out in anger. How could I protect everyone now when I could get slaughtered in a flash, and still not be able to protect the ones that I loved anyway?

Edward looked alarmed at my sudden outburst of anger.

"Bella, calm down," he demanded, worry in his eyes. Even after a century, I still had issues managing my wild mood swings. Only Jasper could calm me down completely, even after I tried to suck the anger back into myself, because there always would be some left, ready to taint me.

I let Jasper's calm influence wash over me as I closed my eyes. I was calm within seconds.

Emmett, however, had other ideas.

"How quickly does this Volturi superman kill people with his gift?" he asked, a curious light in his eyes. Rosalie punched him on the arm as she glared at him.

Edward rolled his eyes at Rosalie's expression. "Several seconds, give or take. It takes longer to burn the body than to actually dismember them," he said, eyes burning as he remembered what he had read from Benjamin.

I was shocked. That was pretty fast, even for a vampire. Sometimes it took vampires even longer to kill humans, if the vampire in question was up for torturing a human, that is.

"What do we do now?" Angela added, frowning.

"We call like crazy again and tell everyone not to come running to Seattle airport. Otherwise, it'll be a bloodbath the moment that the "Volturi superman" as Emmett terms him, comes," Edward said, face now expressionless.

"And then what?" Ben asked, as he eyes flashed to Angela's and Edward's and back again.

"And then, we have to hope," Edward said, despair cracking into his voice. It was clear he had no hope at all, no hope that we might actually escape this situation.

I felt as if I agreed with him. I couldn't do anything to help at all.

"But Edward, didn't you mention several years ago that you heard Carlisle thinking about a vampire friend of his who could manipulate and control thoughts of almost anyone?" Alice asked, a glimmer of hope radiating from her wide, golden eyes.


	4. False Hopes

Chapter 4 – False Hopes

After hearing Alice's statement, I felt the dark cloud that covered my chest lift slightly, as the hope that she offered penetrated the darkness, causing a small vein of light to glow within the depths of the dark cloud there. I understood perfectly what she was trying to say – couldn't this manipulator of thoughts simply persuade the Volturi to abandon their attack of hatred on us, the Cullens? Did this offer a peaceful way of ending this battle? I was more than satisfied with this option, as it meant that I did not need to fear for anyone I knew to get hurt. I felt my lips curl slightly in a smile.

"That is not possible, Alice," Edward said flatly. I noticed that there was something blank in his lovely golden eyes, that there was a part of Edward that seemed to have died and disappeared... With a shocked gasp, I realised that he had lost the will to fight back, that Edward truly believed he was doomed, and the rest of the Cullens with him. Maybe he should start thinking in his own head for a while and not listen to other people's feeling of doom and gloom and borrow those instead. This was eating him alive, and me with him.

"And why isn't this possible? I have no idea _who _exactly the manipulator of thoughts is, so I can't foresee how this will end, but when you spoke about her that time you seemed to have spoken with a ...reverence, like you were in _awe _of her powers," Alice shot back, determined. I saw the black fire burning in her eyes. At least Alice hadn't given up on this battle yet.

"If this mysterious person is Carlisle's friend, why don't we just ask him?" Emmett asked, cutting straight to the point of the matter. Sometimes, I really liked Emmett's direct approach. It was also a lot easier to understand than Edward's more subtle approaches, as he tried to decide which point he was going to say and what not to.

"I didn't get a very good look, as it was just a stray thought that Carlisle happened to be thinking at the time. Anyway, this is all ridiculous, and there is no way to tell if this ability is even powerful enough to stop the Volturi. All I want at the moment is to have some peace for a moment." Edward turned his devastatingly beautiful golden eyes upon mine, and I shivered in anticipation as I felt the desire blossom warm and deep within me, returning his identical glance of passion. Succumbing to my desire was a good way to forget my current worries, a good way to get lost in another dream, another reality...

"Let's go, Edward," I said, shooting looks to everyone surrounding us, daring them to say something, especially Emmett. Turning away from Emmett's knowing smirk, I slid my hand into Edward's as we walked out of the house, slowly, serenely, into the green forest full of life and into our fairytale cottage.

The moment that we arrived in our room, I fell back through the gossamer threads hanging by our bed. Even though I hadn't slept in around a century, not needing to as a vampire, and felt physically awake and active, mentally, I was spent, and it was a comfort, just feeling the soft mattress that lay beneath me, feeling as if I could rest myself for just a moment.

"Edward," I said softly, as he turned to face me. He slid next to me, and together, hands still intertwined together, we watched through the window as the sun set into the horizon. The colours were beautiful- the clouds had finally broken, and the sun taken advantage of this and had shone through, pink and orange shimmering through the clouds, especially illuminating the edges, surrounding our house with the dazzling sunlight. I could already imagine the gently glittering bodies of my family as they enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight that shimmered through their glass walls.

"I wish life could always be like this," I said to Edward, sighing as I ran my hand through his tousled bronze hair. "The sunset is so beautiful- it is just great watching it sink into the night, but now…" My throat tightened as the venom flowed. "Is this beauty going to be denied to me?"

"Are you turning poet on me, Bella?" Edward grinned as he joked. The smile didn't reach his eyes, but it was the most genuine smile that I had seen ever since we heard that the Volturi was coming for revenge, and had my heart been beating, would've set it pumping to a new furious level.

"No, I am admiring what I have at the moment."

Edward caught the double meaning behind my words, and within seconds, our clothes were lying discarded, but in one piece (I still remembered the time that our floor was covered with scraps of torn clothing), on the wooden floor, and Edward and I were making the most of what we had, rolling on our soft double bed as our worries drifted away to be faced another time.

* * *

The clouds were hanging think in the sky with a heavy vengeance, as the sun rose without my noticing of it, buried deeply within the clouds. Edward was lying next to me, eyes open as he stared at me with a heavy, intense gaze. I pretended not to notice this as I attempted to see even a small ray of sunlight poke out of the heavy cloud cover. But this was Forks, and it was one of the most sunless places in the world. Hoping for sunlight was definitely pushing my luck too far.

"I was thinking…" Edward toyed gently with my hair before continuing. "If we were going to enjoy the remainder of our life as much as we can, we should enrol into Forks High. I'm sure you will have a blast from enrolling into that place again, as it holds such _good _memories and so much fun."

I let out a peal of laughter, as did Edward. Forks High was where we first met, where we both fell in love for the first time. Edward was right- I would definitely enjoy a visit again, and it would definitely set our minds more at ease.

"Agreed. Who else would like to come?" I giggled. Edward frowned slightly as he concentrated, as he used his mind reading abilities to read the thoughts of everyone near. Except me. My shield stopped him from having a peek unless I wanted him to.

"We had several eavesdroppers. Angela, Ben, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper are all eager to return to the monotony of secondary education at Forks High. Renesmee wants to as well, except Jacob looks a little too old to go there, and she doesn't want to go without him."

We laughed out loud again. Maybe things could get better, if we were laughing like this. My laughter was cut short as I saw Edward frown again, this time his face serious.

"Alice has an announcement to make," Edward stated. I looked anxiously at his face, but there was no fear, more of a sigh on his face. This announcement, at least, was nothing about the Volturi. Thank goodness for that. This announcement thing was getting seriously repetitive.

"Edward, just tell me. I don't want any more of this melodrama as Alice goes and tells us something important with this dun dun dun in the background, okay?" I attempted to give Edward a stern look, but just a small smile from him had me smiling again, stern face fading in an instant.

"Just watching you smile is making me feel better," Edward smirked, eyes alight. "Anyway, what Alice was going to say was that she has contacted as many people as she can to stay away from here, but she was slightly late in some of her calls."

I motioned impatiently for Edward to continue as I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

"Okay, okay. The Denali's will be here in the morning on the 8 o' clock flight from Anchorage, and the Amazons will also be here tomorrow, but in the afternoon."

"That's not so bad isn't it?" I asked. Edward shook his head as he considered what to do.

"Actually, I'll ask Carlisle to give Forks High a nice call and see if a nice truckload of Cullens can get to Forks High tomorrow. We better get the fun started then! Nothing will stop the Cullens from going to high school again!"

Edward's good mood was very infectious. Maybe this mood may give us some hope against the plague of the Volturi. I didn't notice until later that he had avoided answering my question.

"So, let me recap. Tomorrow, the Denali's and Amazon's are coming, and we are going back to high school?"

"Yes!" Together, Edward and I were rolling on the floor, laughing, and savouring this happiness while it could last.

**I hope you enjoyed the more cheerful mood of this chapter. I know it's shorter than the others, but the next chapter will definitely be longer and continue the fun. Just to let a little something drop – the next chapter will be about returning to Forks High and some other little surprises that pop up! The story will be getting more interesting from that point on, so bear with me! AC**


	5. Back to School

Chapter 5 – Back to school

I couldn't help but giggle slightly as I looked as Renesmee's downcast and sullen face. Renesmee was still upset over the fact that she couldn't go to Forks High today, simply because Jacob couldn't go, and for Renesmee, if she couldn't go with Jacob she wouldn't go at all. I remembered telling my daughter over and over that it was fine to ditch Jacob and have a day of fun out with Edward and me at school, but of course she declined my request. Imprinting. It gets really annoying some days.

"Nessie," I said softly, looking deep into her chocolate brown eyes. "Last chance. I'm sure Jacob won't mind if you ditch him." I heard a deep throaty chuckle from the corner of the room. Jacob.

Next to me, I could see Edward's lips lock together tightly as he held his smile back. Of all the people to find this amusing, of course it had to be _Edward._

"I will say with Jacob and his wolf people, okay?" Renesmee muttered, eyes turning to Jacob as he let out a laugh.

"Suit yourself," I sang, turning to Edward. Next to me, Angela and Ben had their school bags ready and filled, eyes alight with amusement as they watched my sad (and slightly pitiful) attempts to get Renesmee to come to high school with us. But as it was with those imprinted people, they _always _stayed together, and I mean always.

I could hear the impatient honking of a car from the garage. There were simultaneous smiles from Angela and Ben as they took in my disgruntled expression. The car honked again.

I let out a few expletives under my breath, just loud enough for Emmett and Rosalie, who were playing with the horn of my Ferrari, to hear. I was prepared for the laughter that followed, but that didn't stop me from being annoyed.

"Let's go," Edward said, eyes sparkling with laughter. I grabbed his smooth hand, and we ran down to the garage, where, sure enough, Emmett and Rosalie were wrestling on who would be honking the horn of my car.

"Unbelievable. You would think that they were in kindergarten." My snappy retort caused Rosalie and Emmett to stop mid battle and stare at me with innocent expressions. I flew over to the driver's door, where I flung open the door and motioned for Emmett to get out.

"Out. Get into your own car _now._" Emmett gave me an evil grin, before sliding out with Rosalie and going to the other red car in the garage, Rosalie's red convertible. With my car empty again, Edward slid into the passenger seat next to my driver's seat, as Angela and Ben slid into the back seat of my Ferrari. From the corner of my eye, I could see Alice and Jasper hop into the back of Rosalie's convertible, throwing me a look from the corner of their eyes that looked amused.

Quickly, I slammed my door shut, and not bothering with my seat belt, I set the engine running and slammed my foot onto the accelerator, my car racing out of the garage with a wild screech.

"Since when do you have the need for speed, Bella?" Edward asked, his eyes inquisitive. Outside, the greenery of the trees flashed passed in a blur as the speedometer reached seventy.

"Since _now_!" Out of my rear mirror, I could see the red glint of Rosalie's car. I could already see that it was Emmett driving, and an unknown competitive instinct within me reared up, and I was determined to beat Emmett to school. Very competitive. And very different too.

I knew it was childish, but our race to the school only lasted five minutes due to the speeds that we were travelling. If any police officers happened to be patrolling, they would certainly be shocked at the speeds that we were racing at, and we'll be paying hefty fines by the day's end.

I swerved sharply into the school car park, and luckily, it was mostly empty. I might have run over some unknowing students who got in my way, vampire instincts or not. I let out a yell of victory when the purring of my Ferrari engine stopped, and when I still heard the engine of Rosalie's car running. There was a smug look on my face when Emmett and Rosalie stepped out, and Emmett let out a low hiss.

"Rematch tomorrow. Let's see how well you drive when it is snowing."

I smirked at Emmett. "You're on, as long as I'm sure that we aren't going to get booked for this."

Together, as one large group, we walked to the main building of the school (which still looked the same after one hundred years), and attracted the attention of a few students who had gotten to school early. They probably must be extraordinarily curious, I mused, remembering my reaction when I first saw the Cullens.

The main office of the school felt hot and muggy, and felt extremely uncomfortable the moment we opened the door to it. The venom in my throat flowed slightly as I inhaled the sweet scent of a human, intensified by the warmth. The human in question was a short, stumpy woman with wispy black hair. I could hear the sudden intake of her breath as she took all of us Cullens in. Edward stepped forward, a slight smile on his face as he read the secretary's thoughts.

"We're the new students. The Cullens," he said, pouring all his charm into his voice. The secretary fluttered her eyes slightly. I had to resist letting out a derisive snort. I would be giving Edward a piece of my mind over this later.

"Of course. I'm Miss Hadden, I hope you will like it here." Flinging a welcoming look towards Edward, Miss Hadden rummaged through a pile of precariously stacked paperwork before grabbing a handful and slamming it onto the table. She then rummaged through them expertly before handing Edward a small pile. It was plain on her face that she was eager to impress.

"Your timetables. Your sisters' and brothers' ones are there," Miss Hadden said.

"Thank you, Miss Hadden." Edward turned to us . "Let's get started, shall we?"

Together, we left the stuffy atmosphere of the office, and I, for one was glad to get out of there. The scent of human blood was definitely more appealing in a warm and humid environment, and I savoured the fresh clean air outside. I grabbed the sheets of paper that Edward had handed out to me, and flicked through them quickly. A timetable, map of the school, and a slip to hand to the office at the end of the day. Forks High certainly hadn't changed since we'd been there.

"Even the timetable still follows the same pattern!" Emmett snickered, pointing at the paper. "But the fun of coming wasn't the learning, but to watch you and Edward have it on!"

I glared at Emmett. I was pretty sure my eyes would be flashing angrily by now. "No innuendoes, remember? I beat you in that arm wrestling bet, so your mouth stays shut, even if it is a hundred years later!"

"You're more fun when you're angry!" But at least Emmett didn't push it, and for that I was grateful. The school bell rang, and I watched curious as there was a flurry of movement. Looking fleetingly at my timetable, I saw that we had senior biology first. Very funny.

"Edward, you didn't happen to bribe anyone to give us _Biology_ first lesson did you?" I still remember my first biology lesson at Forks High. It was the first time that we had met, and Edward had then being intent on sucking me dry.

"No." But the innocent eyed glance that Edward gave me felt too innocent.

"Let's sit through some stinking biology then!"

Edward and I slipped into Biology just before the last student hung up their raincoat. Edward walked confidently to the teacher's table, whose label identified him as Mr. Linge. I could see the shock in Mr. Linge's grey eyes as he took us in.

"We're new. I'm Edward Cullen, and this is my sister Bella." I gave Mr. Linge a small welcoming smile as he struggled for a reply, clearly responding to the sight of my sharp white teeth. Finally, he managed to splutter, "There are two empty seats there at the back. It should be fine for both of you." He turned away from us, a pink tinge forming on his cheeks.

"Thank you," Edward said formally. We walked up the narrow aisle, and took the seats located at the very corner of the room, ignoring the curious glances of the other students. Sitting down on the hard plastic stool, I rummaged through my bag for my books, even though they were props. After a century in and out of high school, I had more than memorised the information necessary for all my chosen subjects, especially biology. I was also used to the brother/sister charade that Edward and I had to play in the classroom, even though, since we acted as adoptive siblings, we could still act as boyfriend and girlfriend.

turned off the lights, but I could still see clearly in the darkness. The moment Mr. Linge's attention was turned to the Blu-Ray player, I stared intently into Edward' eyes. I released my mental shield a second later and thought to Edward, _This is certainly fun. First day at school and we aren't even paying attention. And everyone will be shocked when we get full marks! But then, we are just so smart anyway with the fact we remember absolutely everything we are exposed to._

Edward smiled slightly as he picked up a pen and started writing on a scrap of paper.

_Like we'll get caught. Let's go and enjoy this wonderful video on an "Introduction to senior biology". I like your new attitude. Very nice._

I snorted slightly. I barely noted the light change in the room as the DVD started. Instead, I focused on Edward and on my mental shield as we silently communicated throughout the period, Edward scribbling, while I was conveying my thoughts to him.

* * *

I closed my eyes, content as I listened to the babble that echoed throughout the cafeteria during lunch. Most of it was centred on us, as students whispered about the fact that we were such a large adopted family in here, as well as the fact that we were just oh-so-good-looking. I chucked slightly when one of the students, a certain Michael Newton, was complaining about the fact that Rosalie, Angela, Alice and I were off the market.

As I looked at Edward, I saw that he looked annoyed. He was looking at Michael's direction.

"I can't believe _his _mind is going in the same direction that that vile Mike Newton's was when _he _first saw you. Makes sense. This one is Mike's great grandkid or so to some degree."

I could see why this annoyed Edward. He had always been touchy about Mike Newton while I was human, and this information was more than enough to send me cracking into laughter. At the sound of my laughter, several of the human boys looked at me with longing.

"Let's go and enjoy this lunch rather than getting cranky on the effects of puberty on human boys," I said to Edward, distracting him.

Meanwhile, opposite us, Alice was frowning. I turned my attention away from Edward onto her.

"Alice?"

Alice shook her head. "It's fine. Nothing major. Just something on the stock market. And by the way, the Denali's are here, and the Amazon's are about to land in Seattle."

I nodded, taking in her message. "Anything urgent?"

"Not that I can feel," Jasper said, using his gift to erase any alarm that I had in me.

I jumped slightly when the bell rang. I snatched my timetable from my bag, smirking when I saw I had a free. Emmett grumbled slightly as he stomped off to Building Three for Government, Rosalie by his side. I waved him a cheery goodbye, which he ignored. Alice and Jasper followed after them, while Angela and Ben stayed with us.

"Let's go. Thank goodness that we have a free last period," Ben said.

Together, we returned to Miss Hadden's stuffy hot office, where we left our slips in the wooden basket on the corner of the table.

Miss Hadden turned to us, a smile on her face. "How was your first day?"

"It was fine, Miss Hadden," Edward replied. He gave Miss Hadden a sudden smile, which sent her eyelids fluttering, and we exited the office and walked through the wet car park to my Ferrari.

As I started the engine, and drove out of the car park, I turned my attention to Angela and Ben.

"What did you guys do in class?" I asked. Ben winked at me.

"Well what did _you_ do?" Angela counted. Edward and I let out a short laugh.

"You can guess!" I admitted, grinning.

I cut the engine the moment we reached the cover of the garage. I felt my earlier panic, concealed by the day out at school, return, as our situation came crashing onto me again. I could smell the Denali's in the house.

"Let's get in," I said, noting the sudden blankness in Edward's eyes as his lips tightened.

"Bella! Edward! Ange! Ben! It's so great to see you guys again!" Garrett yelled as we entered, Kate eyes glittering in amusement as she followed.

"You too!" Angela exclaimed, hugging Garrett. "You certainly haven't let any nasty news bring you down either."

"Certainly not. But this is worrying," Garrett murmured. Tanya stepped forward, strawberry blonde curls bouncing.

"Carlisle has agreed for us to wait for the others to return before we have another discussion. Okay with you?"

We nodded.

The gentle swinging of the garage door half an hour later had the rest of us trying to find a spot on the couch to sit down in. Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper walked in, their mood sombre. From the looks on their faces, it was obvious that they knew something that we didn't. Standing behind the couch, Jacob was pacing impatiently, Renesmee staring at him, face annoyed.

Alice stepped forward. "I've seen another vision about the Volturi."

An explosive silence met her statement, even though this statement was expected.

"What is it?" Tanya demanded. Alice averted her eyes as she thought on what to say.

"You're not going to like this," Alice replied.


	6. Beginning of the End

Chapter 6 – Beginning of the end

**Alice's vision**

_The snow is falling lightly in the pale dawn light, touching down on the ground with barely a sound. There is not that much that can be seen in the city below. Instead, on the hill that overlooks the city, there is a dark grey mass that seems to be floating down. This mass flows slowly, with a kind of deadly power, towards the edges of the city, the edges of the mass billowing slightly as if the dark mass is looking for something. Suddenly, the mass freezes on the hill, as a small part detaches from it, and instead, it heads for the forest out of the city._

"_It is that way," the individual mass whispers. At the very centre of the dark mass, a black figure detaches from the rest, and follows the whispering figure._

"_The place is that way," the voice says interested. It turns to the rest of the mass, which is waiting impatiently. "Demetri, where are they?"_

_A voice comes out from the centre of the pack, voice unnaturally loud in the cold dawn. "I cannot feel them. No doubt that Bella Cullen has managed to increase her power, and spread it out here in Anchorage. But I can smell their scent. I do not forget a smell, master, and this scent is not even a day old."_

_What was a mass of grey suddenly turned suddenly to a bunch of about twenty vampires, as they all lifted their hoods off and stepped into the pale grey light, illuminating their pale, vindictive faces. With the hoods off, the vampires do not look as threatening as they did in a mass, but that changed as a pair of brawny vampires stepped forward, eyes both glittering with a dangerous menace. The remainder of the mass mimics their murderous expressions. _

"_They are weak. We want to deal with them ourselves. To display our power, to show those Cullens they aren't the only powerful ones. With me here, even they can't win master," chuckles the taller one, who, not just from the size, but also the voice, seemed to be the more dangerous one._

_The black figure standing alone looks deep into the mass of vampires and makes eye contact with the other two vampires that were dressed identically to him._

"_It's about time the Cullens lose some of their best fighters to Keenan," the black figure, revealed to be the Volturi leader, Aro, smirks._

_The vision changes and blurs until the surroundings change…._

_The two brawny vampires run swiftly through the forest, making little noise as the trees are flashing past in a pale blur. The taller one, Keenan, turns to the other and frowns slightly._

"_Felix, I don't smell them. I mean, I smell that day old scent, but there is no _fresh _scent. That is the house there. They are gone," he whispers, as he points to a two storey pale white house that looms in the middle of the forest that they were just running in. He stares into the trees behind, annoyed. "Master will be spitting fire if he realises that they have escaped without him knowing."_

_Felix looks at Keenan, his smile also fading. "I wanted a fight. Damn it, I – "_

_Felix was cut of abruptly as the wind changed direction, now blowing from the south. The wind carries a powerful scent in it that both recognised as vampires. But a smile reaches up and cracks in Felix's face as he recognises the scent. Keenan looks worried at his partner, as if he fears he was going mad._

"_What the hell is there to be smiling about in this current situation?" Keenan snarls as the scent grows stronger. He knows it was an urgent situation, as the moment these approaching vampires came, they would have to come up with a good reason why they were here. Many vampires knew the Denali's lived here, and would be shocked to see two of the Volturi's best fighters outside their house ready to kill them._

"_I recognise the scent. We may not get our masters' intended victims, but this is the scent of a pair of nomads that helped them. I recognise it. We'll get them instead. I mean, we'll have to go after them anyway. This means less trouble, no need to hunt those pesky nomads," Felix says, his eyes sparkling with excitement. The annoyance in Keenan's eyes fades to be replaced by a childlike impatience. Felix lets out a sigh, as if he were bored with Keenan's reaction._

_Seconds later, a pair of vampires steps into the clearing in front of the Denali's house. At the sight of the two Volturi warriors, they both gasp and stop in their tracks, their bodies instantly tensing. The wind has obviously removed all traces of Felix's and Keenan's scent. The two startled vampires had no warning at all._

"_Peter! Carlisle was right. GO!" the woman screams, her brown hair a blur as she turns back into the forest. The fear was evident in her burgundy eyes._

_She has barely turned before Felix catches her unprotected back, and in one swift motion, tears her head off with a loud metallic ripping. A snarl rips out of Peter's mouth as he crouches in a defensive stance, only for Keenan to violently leap on him. Within seconds, the only sound that could be heard in the clearing is the sound of metal being ripped apart._

"_There," Keenan hisses as he lights a match and throws it directly onto the white pieces that lay quivering on the snow covered grass. One of the pieces catches, and within seconds, there is a pyre of choking purple fire, the smoke rising into the sky in a lazy spiral. Felix and Keenan high five each other as they grin at a job well done._

"_The Denali's are not here. Who did you guys kill?" a dark grey figure says in a dead voice. Both vampires turn around swiftly._

"_Jane!" They exclaim, clearly not expecting the new arrival. _

"_Well, who were they?" Jane asks in a bored tone. At their reply, she lets out a loud screech that causes birds in the neighbouring trees to fly out in fear._

_The vision blurs again, and all Alice could feel was the raging anger of the men in the black robes._

* * *

Alice closed her eyes as she fell heavily onto the couch. I looked at her, anxious as she breathed in and out deeply through her nose. I turned to Edward, knowing that he would know what to do faster than I would. The instinct didn't feel as deeply ingrained within myself as it did with Edward.

"Alice, how long do we have before this happens?" Edward asked, eyes turning to the window as he gazed intently at the sky. The clouds, were again, thick in the sky, but it was still easy to see the rays of the sun that shone beneath the cloud cover.

Alice opened her eyes, and looked deeply into Edward's. He let out a shocked gasp as he read the thoughts in her mind.

"Only that long?" Edward spat out, shock in his face. Emmett turned impatiently to him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Not all of us can read minds, you know. How long do we have, Edward? We need to stop the vampires killing Peter and Charlotte. We can't stop them finding out that the Denali's are here at our place, but we can stop them from killing Peter and Charlotte you know," Emmett hissed at Edward, his face twisted in annoyance as he waited for a reply.

"The attack happens at around dawn in Anchorage. Apparently Peter and Charlotte are there as they were nearby and thought it would be a good idea to stay with Tanya, fearing that the Volturi may get a better chance at them if they were alone." Edward's expression blanked out even further as everyone in the room saw the irony of Peter and Charlotte's situation. "Anchorage is about an hour behind, and their sunrise is later than here in Forks, but if our weather is anything to go by, we have about one and a half hours before Peter and Charlotte gets killed, and that is if we get lucky."

"And I'm not letting that happen, either. Peter and Charlotte are my friends, and I won't let them get killed because I put them in danger," Jasper said loudly, as he looked directly at Edward. I felt slightly uneasy as I saw Jasper's loyalty to Peter and Charlotte in his eyes. Edward's face was still blank, and I had no idea what he was thinking.

Alice let out a shocked gasp, as her eyes unfocused and she saw the future again. As Edward whipped his head around, her eyes focused again as she tried to keep Edward out. He let out a pent up breath of frustration.

"My decision changed the future, didn't it?" Edward sighed. I couldn't help squeezing his hand in comfort as I took in his facial expression, which definitely wasn't very reassuring in the current situation. Alice wouldn't meet his eyes. Instead, she was looking directly at Angela and Ben, who both looked very uncomfortable under her stare.

"If we go to Anchorage, we'll just make things worse," Alice stated hopelessly, as she reluctantly returned her gaze to Edward. Emmett rolled his eyes impatiently as Rosalie beside him grimaced.

"And what things precisely will be worse?" Rosalie asked, as she shot warning looks at Emmett, telling him to restrain himself.

"Firstly, if we go there, Peter and Charlotte will get killed anyway. Secondly, we won't get there in time. Thirdly, if we go, Bella, will, in anguish, lose control of her shield for a few seconds and Demetri will find us as we run through the forest. We will get into an encounter with the Volturi, and Emmett and Edward will be killed. The Volturi will capture the rest of us, and I am sure it will end badly. I can already imagine myself working for the Volturi just to keep the rest of you alive."

Jacob snarled under his breath. Sure, he wouldn't mind Edward getting killed, but that would shatter Bella, and he didn't want to see her destroyed either.

"So what will we do? Seeing as you guys are the smart ones?" Jacob muttered, patting Renesmee slightly on her arm as she tried to calm him down.

"I will try and contact them," Carlisle announced, drawing out an iPhone from his pocket. "But there is a slight problem. I do not know if there is any reception where they are travelling, and I don't even know if they have phones on them. But I will try," he continued, voice fierce as he walked away.

"So all we can do is sit and wait?" I said, feeling my voice catch slightly. Edward turned to face me, as he kissed me gently with an expression of concern. I pulled away gently, my face glum. I saw Edward mimic my expression.

"No," I heard Carlisle mutter as he paced around the kitchen. "Answer me, answer me, answer me..."

"Forget it, Carlisle. There is no reception there. By the time it gets through it will be too late. Peter and Charlotte – face it. They're going to die and there isn't a thing that we can do to stop it," Alice announced, as Jasper fell to his knees, looking at Alice desperately.

The only thought that ran through my head was that this whole situation felt like the beginning of the end.


	7. The Volturi Strikes

Chapter 7 – The Volturi Strikes

There was no activity in the Cullen household. The only noises that could be heard in the house were the steady and monotonous ticking of the analogue clock. The sun had risen more than two hours ago, but all I was aware of was the loud silence in the house, and the thudding of two heartbeats against it. There had been no movement in the house since Alice had told us that there was nothing we could do for Peter and Charlotte except let them go to their deaths.

The clock struck nine. The loud rumbling of a stomach shattered the silence in the room as several heads turned to the source of the noise – Jacob's rumbling stomach.

"What?" Jacob said defensively. "I'm hungry. It's not against the law." Muttering under his breath about vampires who didn't understand the needs of normal people, I watched as Jacob stomped to the kitchen and started raiding the fridge.

I turned to Edward beside me, who was sitting as still as a carving of Adonis on the sofa beside me.

"Edward," I said. Edward sat beside me acting as if he did not hear me. "Edward. _Edward Cullen!_"

Edward's head finally snapped up as he looked at me with that blank depressed expression on his face. I couldn't help sighing in exasperation.

"We are _not _going to sit in this house and sulk, otherwise we will all end up screwed the moment the Volturi comes. Even though this loss is sad, we need to move forward. Peter and Charlotte won't be happy if we end up killed because we are sulking okay?" I turned to the other Cullens and the Denali's, since they also showed signs of the same depression that clearly plagued Edward. "And that applies to the rest of you too." I couldn't help but feel satisfied as several guilty expressions appeared.

In front of me, Alice nodded, agreeing with my outburst, just in time for me to see Alice's eyes glaze over and stare elsewhere. Staring into the future.

"Alice?" I whispered. Beside me, Edward was frowning in concentration as he read Alice's thoughts, and I heard him mutter, "Keeps flashing…what are they hiding…is…no..." Edward continued muttering stray words that made little sense before I tuned his distressed voice out.

"Edward? Alice?" Carlisle asked concerned. Alice shot him an agonised look as her gaze returned to the present.

"I can't see! Whoever is making the choices is either changing their mind or trying to keep me out…all I can see is a clearing and that vampire Keenan in it and even that is flashing!"

"Aro," Edward hissed menacingly, his face a mask of hatred. "He knows Alice too well. He knows exactly how to hide things up."

"Then we should get ready for a fight." I was slightly startled when I saw Jasper get up from his position in the floor and look Carlisle in the eye.

"The Volturi are nearby. They will take this chance to attack us. We should hunt now, before we have to worry about the Volturi ambushing us when we do hunt. I mean, look at us. Most of us are thirsty, and I can barely stop myself from killing the next human I see!"

Carlisle nodded, although I thought he was suppressing a shiver. "Yes, Jasper you better get hunting today. Bella, go with him – you don't look any better and Eleazar can feel your shield wavering at the moment. This hunting trip will help you concentrate."

I nodded, agreeing. "Are we going together or in pairs?"

"Pairs. We'll need people in the house. Edward, you better stay here. I know you would like to go with Bella, but at the moment I think she'll make Jasper feel better."

I saw the pain in Edward's eyes. I tried to console him by saying "I'll be so quick, you'll barely even notice that I have been gone, alright?" I gave Edward a swift kiss that he returned with passion. I couldn't help losing myself with Edward for a few moments until Carlisle's voice snapped us out of our reverie.

Carlisle turned to the others in the room. "Angela, Ben, and Emmett, Rosalie, you will also go in pairs in about 5 minutes to go hunting. Don't go any further than the mountains. Alice, you stay here. Try and see what you are missing in your visions."

I tuned out of Carlisle's conversation while I returned my gaze to Edward. Going hunting without him would be bad enough, but with the urgency of the situation, I felt even worse. All I wanted to do was to stay with Edward and enjoy his presence for as long as I could.

"Bella." I turned and saw Jasper standing in front of me with an apologetic expression. "Time to go hunting."

I gave Edward one last kiss, savouring his sweet honey scent, before turning to Jasper and walking with him to the back door of the house that led to the forest. I couldn't turn back, because if I did to farewell Edward I knew that I wouldn't be leaving the house any time soon.

The moment my bare foot touched down of the soft lawn, I let my vampire strength flow free within my body, and ran, enjoying the caressing feel of the wind on my bare skin. I felt, rather than saw Jasper pick up his pace to follow me. We ran silently through the forest, feet barely touching the forest floor, but I knew this silence wasn't because Jasper was upset. During the few times that we went on a hunting trip together Jasper was just as silent, and I learnt it was his way of enjoying the hunting trip.

"Jasper?" I asked after several minutes of running. Jasper nodded, understanding my question. We came to a standstill as we both let our senses of hearing and smell range outwards for several kilometres as we hunted for our prey.

As usual, Jasper was the first to pick the scent up, several seconds earlier than me. He pointed to a north-westerly direction, and we both resumed our sprint as the wind blew the scent of the elk towards us.

There were about ten, and I could hear each individual heartbeat. The sound itself was enough to get the venom flowing from my throat and into my mouth, and it was only then I realised how thirsty I was. It was a relief to get to the clearing, as I felt the thirst that raged within me. All I wanted to do was to sate this thirst.

Jasper signalled to me with a curt nod, and I flew to the right, landing lightly upon an elk before snapping its' neck with my bare hands. I heard similar cracks from the left as Jasper mimicked my actions, and within seconds, beneath our feet were the carcasses of all ten elk that were seconds ago grazing in the clearing.

I grabbed the nearest carcass and felt better the moment I felt my razor sharp fangs sink into the soft skin of the elk. Over the past century I learned how to efficiently kill and drain my prey, and I used this learned skill to suck all of the five dead elk within minutes. The blood revitalised me, and I felt better in an instant.

"Better?" I turned to Jasper. I could already see the gold returning into his eyes, and I knew mine would look like that too.

Jasper gave me a soft grin. "Better. Definitely. I don't feel so down and under with all this blood in me. But I think I'll need a bit more. Five elk, with their really nice –". I grimaced with Jasper. I didn't like the elk any better than he did. "- with their really nice taste, is definitely not enough to keep me satisfied for long. And it would definitely help if we drank more to increase our strength if we needed to fight."

"Definitely," I agreed, as once again I spread my senses out hunting for more prey to drink from.

Suddenly, Jasper let out a low hiss. I looked at him, startled to see that he was in a defensive crouch. Milliseconds later, I felt why. The wind had changed direction, now blowing from the north east, and with the wind was a scent that I instantly recognised as a vampire. What had set our reaction on alert was the fact that neither of us recognised who it was. I bared my fangs out and crouched into a position similar to Jasper's.

"Let's go," I hissed quickly through my teeth. Jasper's eyes flashed to mine.

"Let's go," he replied, voice strained, as we turned tail and headed back to the Cullen house. We couldn't take the risk that the mysterious vampire that was running in our direction was a member of the Volturi. If they were, we could be in a lot of trouble.

"It's gone. The scent is gone," I whispered, throwing my sense of smell outwards, hunting for that scent. I checked my mental shield to make sure that it was there and secure, but I felt a pit of worry in my stomach. My ability wouldn't help in a physical confrontation.

"I know," Jasper muttered. "That what has me concerned. They must have sensed us. We better run now."

I looked at Jasper, feeling true fear for the first time in a century, and together, we ran into the protective cover of the forest.

"We shouldn't have gone so far from the house," I said to Jasper as we ran.

"I know," Jasper replied, eyes constantly darting between me and the forest behind us. "Edward is going to kill me for this."

The direction of the wind changed again, this time bringing the vampire scent right to my nose, and suddenly, I let out a scream of terror when I felt something hard slam into from the side, completely knocking me off balance. The next second, I was in the grasp of the same vampire that Jasper and I had smelt earlier, and his arm was tight around my throat and my waist. I choked, trying to call out to Jasper only to realise that the vampire's grip was so tight around my throat that I couldn't breathe. If I was human this vampire would've already choked me to death. As it was, I felt a deep searing pain in my neck, the first physical pain that I felt since being turned into a vampire.

"Say still and I might decide not to rip your head off," the vampire said cheerfully in my ear, but with an undertone of menace. "By the way," he added, "that was a really nice scream. I might want to remember that so I can hear you scream over and over again."

In front of me, Jasper was crouching in an offensive stance. I could feel him using his gift to try to convince the vampire holding me captive that this was not necessary. But, to my shock, not only did he not seem to feel it, I could actually feel him tightening his arm around my neck, and if I had air, I would've screamed, but all that came out was a strangled wretch.

"What do you want?" Jasper growled, his golden eyes flashing menacingly.

"What do I want, dearest Jasper?" the vampire said mockingly, with a loud taunt to his voice. "Well, if you want Mrs Bella's head here to stay attached to her body, you might want to come along with me to my masters."

"Volturi," Jasper hissed, fury blazing in his eyes. But I noticed how his stance had changed from offensive to defensive. Jasper's weariness made me realise exactly how dangerous the vampire holding me was.

"Yep Mr. Fighter. Take one step and I will have no trouble ripping you to shreds. But, ah, my master comes."

The Volturi fighter dragged me along with him, and the vice around my neck tightened even further. It felt as though I was being decapitated by a sword, and the sword was cutting through me slowly but not getting through. All I could think about through the pain was Edward, and I pulled down my shield in desperation, only to realise that we were too far out for Edward to hear my thoughts.

Edward, help me! I thought in desperation, as I saw a black hooded figure accompanied by several other figures walk into the clearing.

Aro, I thought dimly. Where were the others that when hunting? Did they have the other Cullens with them? My thoughts took on a new panicked edge.

"Keenan, I suggest you loosen your hold on dear Bella now. I wouldn't want her to lose her head, and we've got our little hunting pair here nice and cornered."

The moment I felt the vice-like grip loosen around my neck, I sucked in several huge gasps of air. My knees felt weak, even though they hadn't been affected by my lack of oxygen. The pain around my neck disappeared the moment Keenan had released his pressure on it.

"Jasper," Aro said, smiling. "Nice to finally meet you after seeing you in delightful Alice's head."

Jasper did not move. I could tell he was sizing up the other guards that Aro had around him.

Aro walked towards Jasper, a smile on his face, but from the look on Jasper's face, I wondered what emotions were going through Aro then. Revenge, or maybe the need for violence?

"I have a little choice that I am going to give you here. And dear Bella too," Aro said, smiling at me. "You can join us in the Volturi, you can serve me with your powers, or I will tell my dear warriors to go and visit that divine little house near the river that you live in, and tell them to destroy it and the inhabitants utterly. Your choice," he finished, smiling lovingly at us.

All I wanted to do at the moment was puke. What were we going to do?


	8. Paths Collide

Chapter 8 – Paths Collide

**Edward Cullen**

I pushed away all the thoughts that were clouding my head, the ones that didn't belong to me. I felt a savage urge to run into the forest that I saw Bella run into with Jasper, because all I wanted was to have Bella safe and secure near me. Of course, things rarely when my way when I wanted them to.

Carlisle was pacing around the house anxiously, half looking out the window, and half looking at me. _Edward, I know you're not happy about being left here without Bella, but you're more likely to figure out what is happening with the Volturi _, he thought. I ignored him. I just had that awful feeling in my stomach – that feeling that you could have in your stomach that made you think that something bad was going to happen. This feeling was lurking like a deadly poison within me and it made me feel so defenceless. I hated that feeling too, because I _wanted _to fight and rip Aro's head off. It was just that Volturi warrior that made me feel bad.

I returned my focus to Alice, trying to break the monotony of my thoughts. The only thoughts that I could gleam from her were muddled and confused – Alice was trying to figure what all that flashing that she was seeing meant. Alice gave me a short glance and smiled sadly.

_Looking in my thoughts won't help. I can't make any sense out of this- they're flashing even faster than they did when Victoria was trying to cover up her motives. Maybe I should call Jacob down – I'm getting a massive headache here_, Alice thought.

Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed for a second when the flashing abruptly stopped. Alice's eyes glazed over, opaque, staring into the future.

"Alice!" I gasped, reaching out to her. Carlisle and Esme looked at me abruptly, eyes wide with shock at my expression. However, I didn't notice their expressions of shock. Instead, all that I was aware of was the vision that was currently running through Alice's head.

That vision. It couldn't be happening. I tried to throw it away, forcing it out of my thoughts for several seconds, before in anguish, I succumbed to the images that were flashing in my mind.

* * *

**Alice's vision**

_It is a cloudy day in the mountains that surround Forks. A lone vampire runs through the forest that grows on the mountains, and it is his decision that finally settles Alice's vision. The vampire is bare-chested, and the only clothing that he is wearing is a pair of tattered and faded jeans._

_The vampire stops, his nose flaring as he sniffs out the mountain range surrounding him. His eyes close as he smiles. The vampire scents his prey._

_The wind blows abruptly from the north-east, which blows the vampire's scent down to where his prey is. The vampire snarls slightly, and making a snap decision, runs to the west, where the wind cannot blow his scent down. Now he needs to find his prey again, this time without alerting them to his presence._

_He follows a mountain trail with a steady pace for several minutes. He then freezes, once again hunting for the scent that evades him. _

_He finds the scents, and smirks when he realises that his prey are closer than he thinks. His head whips to the north as he watches them run down towards him, and suddenly, in one graceful movement, the vampire launches himself forward with a careful precision, and crashes directly into one member of a pair of vampires that were running with haste to the south._

_The vampire that he crashes into lets out a terrified scream that has the vampire worked up into a frenzy. It is a beautiful sound that he longs to hear over and over. He does not notice as the scream echoes eerily around the mountain range, sending birds fluttering out of trees and alerting anyone within a large radius that they were there._

_The vampire thrusts his desire away, and grips his hostage tightly around the waist and neck. He feels his female hostage struggle to breathe, and lets the air of superiority flow through him as he feels her lay limp against his body. Probably would be an added bonus if Aro or Caius would let him play with her a little._

_The other vampire stands in the clearing with expressions of alarm and anger. His tousled honey blond hair blows freely in the wind, and the opposing vampire is forced to conceal his laughter at how ridiculous that vampire looked in his offensive stance. As if any vampire could defeat him, the most powerful of them all! Like he could help the hostage that stood helpless against his chest!_

"_Say still and I might decide not to rip your head off," he says to his still hostage, the Cullen girl with that shield that still caused fear to show in his master's eyes. Bella. That was her name… But even this one wasn't powerful enough to stop him._

_Her breath catches in fear. It wasn't as if she could breathe that much anyway. The gasp sounds more like a choke. The vampire made sure that his grip is tight and painful. "By the way, that was a really nice scream. I might want to remember that so I can hear you scream over and over again."_

_The honey blond vampire snarls._

"_What do you want?" he growls, his eyes flashing with menace._

"_What do I want, dearest Jasper? Well, if you want Mrs Bella's head here to stay attached to her body, you might want to come along with me to my masters."_

"_Volturi," Jasper hisses, fury blazing like a fire in his eyes. The other vampire looks amused as Jasper moves to a more defensive stance._

"_Yep Mr. Fighter. Take one step and I will have no trouble ripping you to shreds. But, ah, my master comes."_

_Jasper snarls again as the other vampire looks towards the bushes. A tall, black hooded figure that came in accompanied by other figures walks into the clearing._

"_Keenan, I suggest you loosen your hold on dear Bella now. I wouldn't want her to lose her head, and we've got our little hunting pair here nice and cornered."_

_Keenan releases his hold on Bella's neck reluctantly, as she sinks onto her knees and takes several loud gasps of air._

"_Jasper," Aro says, smiling. "Nice to finally meet you after seeing you in delightful Alice's head."_

_There was silence. No movement at all._

"_I have a little choice that I am going to give you here. And dear Bella too," Aro says, smiling at Bella. "You can join us in the Volturi, you can serve me with your powers, or I will tell my dear warriors to go and visit that divine little house near the river that you live in, and tell them to destroy it and the inhabitants utterly. Your choice," he finishes, smiling lovingly at the two vampires at his mercy._

_Jasper and Bella looks shocked. Aro smiles. _

"_Maybe a little present might persuade you. Keenan," Aro says, turning to the large vampire sulking on the edge of the clearing._

"_Pay my _good _friends the Cullens a little visit, will you?"_

_Keenan laughs. A second later, he was gone._

* * *

**Edward Cullen**

I wasn't aware that I had sunk to the floor until I realised that I was lying in Carlisle's sturdy arms. Alice was eying the clock with an intensity to burn a hole through a wall. I hadn't paid enough attention while I was viewing the future that Alice saw. But with the way that Alice was eying the clock, I realised that we didn't have long before Bella and Jasper were ambushed. Even if we did manage to prevent it, there was no way I could keep my sanity if Keenan was walking the earth. He had to die for what I saw him do to my Bella, even if it never happened. For what he _wanted _to do to her.

"Edward," Alice yelled at me, grabbing my hand. "Can you hear Jasper's thoughts?"

I concentrated, forcing my mind to its boundaries as I searched for Jasper's 'voice'. But I couldn't find it. It meant only one thing.

"They're outside the range of my hearing. I can't pick up their thoughts. They are at least 4 miles out. What am I going to _do_?" I yelled, feeling frantic.

"Then…" Alice whispered. I felt Alice block her thoughts and instead started translating some story into ancient Egyptian, but it was too late. I had picked up the thought that she had wanted to hide. That the future that she had seen was about to happen. There was nothing that we could do to help them. It felt like Peter and Charlotte all over again.

"Will they? Do you think that they will join the Volturi to save us?" Esme asked, her eyes alight with concern. She had obviously paid keen attention while Alice was recounting the future that she had seen.

"I would in Bella's shoes. But even that is no guarantee that all of us will survive. Knowing Aro, he will keep only the useful ones. If you are not useful to him then you are dead," I said blankly.

"Edward is right," Angela said, appearing from the kitchen silently. There was a frown on her face as she projected her power outwards.

"Aro must have a very strong character or else I would not be able to feel him. Bella and Jasper are most likely in a 5 mile radius. My power cannot expand any further than that. I felt him, felt Aro. It was…gross, there is no other word for it. The hunger for more power and revenge dominate inside of him like a poisonous toad. There is no empathy in him. He is relishing the fact that he will get to destroy the main sources of his 'embarrassment' as he terms it. Caius is even worse. Right now, I am blocking them out, otherwise I would have a very bad headache."

"Is it true?" Emmett demanded as he ran into the living room, followed by Rosalie. They had obviously felt that something was amiss, because it was clear that they had not hunted.

"Yes," Carlisle said sadly.

"We heard her scream," Rosalie said simply.

There was a sudden knocking on our front door. Everyone in the room froze. If Alice's vision was running true, it would be Keenan at the door.

"It's fine," Alice said, breaking the veil of silence. "It is too early for Keenan to be due here. It's Liam, Maggie and Siobhan from Ireland."

"I'll meet them," Carlisle said strained. As he left to go to the front door, I turned to Alice.

"You'll tell me, won't you, if Bella is killed?" I asked. Pain splashed across Alice's face.

"We'll need you _here _Edward, as a brother and son. You can't abandon the rest of us," Alice pleaded, her eyes hard opals in the dim light.

"Alice," Siobhan said, holding her hand out. "We have heard the bad news." Beside her, Maggie and Liam nodded. There was a slight noise as the Denali's and the Amazon's from upstairs came down to meet them.

Carlisle nodded again. However, the only feeling that I could feel was a deep hollow hole within my chest.

_Wow, there is certainly quite a party going on. Should've bought Felix along_.

I spun around rapidly as I processed the thought, my eyes searching the door for the tell-tale shadow that would be there if someone was standing there.

"Keenan!" I spat out, letting out a snarl as the door broke open, smashing to pieces on the floor.

There was silence as the Denali's and Amazon's both crouched into defensive stances. Keenan stood at the doorway, a slight smirk on his face as he surveyed the scene.

"Oh shit," Eleazar swore. Carmen looked at him, eyebrow raised. I knew that Eleazar had checked out Keenan's power, and not liked what he felt. I pushed that thought out of my mind. I had a more pressing concern.

"What the hell have you done to Bella?" I spat out furiously, as Alice stood next to me, glaring daggers at Keenan.

"If you want to see them alive, you and Little Miss I-can-see-the-future better come along, or I will follow Aro's order to set your house on fire after ripping the whole lot of you to pieces. The only reason I haven't done it is because there are way too many of you weaklings, and you might make some noise during the removal process."

Emmett snarled. He was clearing smarting over the 'weakling' and the 'removal process' line. I gave Alice a short glance, and she inclined her head slightly.

_Let's go, Edward. If we go, our futures go all blank, and this means the werewolves get involved. If they do, it's better for us,_ Alice thought.

I gave Keenan one short nod.


	9. Fight or flee

Chapter 9 – Fight or flee

**Edward Cullen**

"Edward, this isn't a good idea," Carlisle said, eyes boring into mine. I looked away as Keenan laughed. It was a chilling, demented sound.

"Well, if you prefer to be in smithereens I am looking forward to helping you with that." The look in Keenan's deep red eyes made Esme beside me shiver.

"Now, dream team, let's go before I use…persuasion."

Alice and I followed Keenan out the door as I grimaced at the thoughts in Keenan's head. The 'persuasion' that Keenan had prepared in his head revolted me.

"Now, slow pokes, do you know the lovely clearing that is several minutes jog off the 101 north?" Keenan sneered with disdain the moment we were clear of the house. I was careful to make sure that I could pick up every thought in Keenan's head. But it wouldn't be much of an advantage if he attacked us. Keenan's power was too powerful, even with the added advantages that Alice and I had.

I returned my mind to Keenan thoughts. The image that I saw revolving in Keenan's head stunned me. It was the meadow that I had taken Bella to when I first showed her how I looked in the sunlight.

"How do you-?"

"How did we know? Aro's had a nice peek into your head several times, and he thinks that it is a _perfect _location for a reunion with your sweet Bella. And for you little miss Alice, with your dear fighter boy."

I couldn't help snarling with Alice. Keenan glared at us, but there was amusement there.

"The grass there is getting older by the second. Now, move your butts or I will rip them off myself!"

Without further to do, Alice and I ran to my meadow, Keenan running behind us and throwing predatory glances at us every few minutes.

* * *

**Bella Cullen**

Of all the places the Volturi could've chosen to give Jasper and I our 'presents' they had to choose my meadow! The meadow that seemed to exist only for Edward and me, but now, the Volturi intended to turn it into a killing ground. I knew what the plan was even without the ability to read minds. Edward and Alice would come along, and if any one of us refused the Volturi's offer to join them, the other of the pair would be killed. We loved each other too much to allow that to happen. I knew that if someone was killed, the other would be forced to exist. I couldn't do that to Edward. And I knew that the Volturi knew that as well.

Beside me, Jasper was under the guard of three vampires, who were circling around him. Aro had obviously seen his fighting abilities in Edward's head – by giving Jasper that many guards Aro was showing his fear of Jasper.

As I looked around, Jasper's eyes met mine. There was a hard edge to the golden colour that made me know that his thoughts were along the same lines as mine. We only had two choices. Join the Volturi or die. It wasn't a predicament that I could see a way out of.

The wind blew gently from the south, bringing along the scent of wildflowers. Suddenly, the strength of the scent intensified, and with it came the scents of three vampires that I knew only too well. Alice, Edward, and that Volturi warrior Keenan. I really hoped that Alice hadn't seen what had happened to Jasper and me. I knew it would set Edward on a burning quest of vengeance the moment he read her mind.

The heads of Aro and Caius snapped up with the scent, as Marcus stayed back with that utterly bored expression in his face.

Aro turned to us, smiling serenely.

"I hope you, Bella, and you, Jasper, enjoy the gifts that I have presented you with. I hope they help you make your decisions. I can remind you that Keenan is more than geared up to return to the Cullens house with…another gift," Aro said, Caius behind him smiling with menace. Keenan, Edward and Alice finally arrived at the centre of the meadow, where Aro, Caius and Marcus stood.

Keenan looked up at Aro. But my attention was focused on Edward. It had been nearly an hour since I had last seen him, but it felt so much longer than that, with my abduction and the ultimatum that I had received with Jasper. Edward had changed so much in that time. When I had left him, Edward had a joyful glimmer in his eye and he had looked so much more alive. Now, Edward had lost all the emotions in his face, as he stared at Aro with an expression that bordered on hatred and anger. It made my chest twist just seeing him like that. All I wanted to do was to comfort him, give him a hug, and erase the pain from his face. The only thing I was grateful for at the moment was that Aro had not ordered Keenan to bring Renesmee along as well. I knew I would not be able to resist if she was there.

"Edward…why so bitter?" Aro asked, curious. I almost choked. Did Aro have the audacity to actually ask us that? Aro raised his open palm towards Edward. With a slow, reluctant movement, Edward pressed his palm against Aro's.

Aro closed his eyes as he read every thought that had passed through Edward's head. What we had done in the past century, every thought that had passed through the minds of the Cullens, the emotions that we felt towards the Volturi… Aro knew it all.

I expected Aro to lie, to say that we Cullens were misguided in our hatred.

"Well, I am not surprised to see that you felt like that to us. Seeing as we will be destroying the Cullens. You guys might sully our reputation, and it was so _good _to have a taste of your fear," Aro smiled. Caius looked at me squarely, not even concealing the look of malicious glee on his face.

"Carlisle will die," Caius said as he stood alongside Aro. "Carlisle, his useless wife, the stupid brawny one, though we might keep his mate – she is very good looking, even for a vampire, and I think my guards deserve a reward to play with for their…hard work. But the rest will die. I especially look forward to destroying that pretty half human child that you have there, Bella."

I didn't even realise that I had run forward until I felt the painful grip of several of the Volturi's guards on my shoulders. I let out a scream of hatred. Caius smiled, getting the reaction that he had wanted.

I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down, as the hard arms that had gripped me slowly let go. It helped my emotions that Jasper had been there – I felt my rage and fury abate, leaving me calm.

Aro frowned at Caius slightly. No doubt he was upset about Caius's intentions to kill Renesmee. Aro probably wanted Renesmee around as a lab rat.

Aro turned his gaze back to Edward.

"It's nice to see that you Cullens have expanded. Angela and Ben… I hate to say it, but Ben sounds quite useless to us except as bait for young Angela. I like _her _power…who knows what she might feel if she was working with us…I just have to see into her mind to see exactly what she can do."

I had to resist from snarling at Aro. I could see by the way that Jasper, Edward and Alice had their faces clenched that they were also resisting that urge.

"But that's it Aro! Apart from all the _gifted _vampires, the rest will die. The same will go to all that helped the Cullens in their quest to destroy us, and I don't think you can keep them all either," Caius hissed with a fury that made him sound snake-like. "And I don't care how powerful the sister brats of that _girl _was – I want all the Denali's dead and dusted. Especially Eleazar. Traitor left us for _them…_"

Aro patted Caius's arm delicately.

"No need for anger brother. Those that disobey us _will _die. And that applies to the delightful Cullens standing in front of me. So…" Aro turned around to meet my gaze. "Bella, what will it be? Will you join the Volturi or are you willing to watch Edward die?"

I let out a gasp the same instant that Felix and Keenan grabbed Edward. Keenan tilted Edward's head back, so his throat was exposed. Felix gave me a short wink as Keenan bared his fangs inches from Edward's vulnerable neck.

I understood Aro's plan perfectly. I was more valuable to Aro than Edward. I felt a pang of relief for an instant as the fear that I would leave Edward alone in the alone world left me. But the fear returned to me even stronger – if I refused, how would I live without Edward?

"Bella? What is your decision?" Aro said. On an invisible signal, Keenan sank his fangs into Edward's neck. I cried out as I saw the pain cross Edward's face as he struggled to conceal it. I had no choice. I could not let Edward die. I knew what I said in the next few seconds would be the factor that decided whether Edward's head stayed on his head or not.

"I'll join! I'll join the Volturi! Just get those fangs out of Edward! " I cried in desperation, eager to see the fangs that were imbedded in Edward's neck leave. From a distance away, I heard a harsh snarl that I recognised instantly. Jane. She was still here was she?

Aro gave Keenan a short nod as he released Edward and threw him on the grass. As Edward rubbed his hand on the wounds on his neck, Aro stepped forward, his shadow casting itself over Edward. I didn't like how the image looked. It was the image of an invincible person standing over the doomed person at their feet.

"Well then…Edward? Will you join Bella in the Volturi or die?"

Edward looked up at Aro, face still in a grimace of pain. Without waiting for a response, Aro grabbed Edward's arm and held it for a second.

"You don't want to be with the Volturi, but you don't want to leave young Bella…guess that is sorted. Your love for Bella is stronger than your hatred for joining. Welcome to the Volturi, Edward."

I rushed towards Edward, surprised that no hard hands were restraining me. Edward laid on the grass, defeated, the image of a beaten person.

"Edward," I whispered in despair. At least we were still together.

"Alice?" Edward asked, puzzled, but I saw something in his eye. He was hoping to hope.

The change in the scent of the wind was the only warning that we received before the werewolves attacked.

Edward acted instantly, flinging me onto his back as if I weighed nothing. Without regards to the battle that had just begun between the Volturi and the werewolves Edward ran recklessly into the trees, dodging vampires and werewolves alike.

Edward ran for several minutes until he was convinced that no one was following us. As he lifted me gently back onto my feet, I noted where we were standing. We were standing at the end of the road that I had driven on over a century previously when Edward had first shown me the meadow. I threw myself at him. If I were human, I would be crying all over him.

"Edward!" I cried, sinking my head into his chest. I felt Edward return my hug, and I looked up into his face just before he kissed me.

The passion in his kiss dissolved my worries instantly. All I cared about was returning his kiss, and moulding my lips around his. I did not notice when my body was curved around Edward in a way that would not have very polite in company. I did not care. I just wanted to savour Edward.

It was quite a shock when we fell down onto the hard road.

"Ow," I exclaimed, shocked. Edward was lying beside me with the same surprised expression.

"Guess we got a little carried away didn't we?" Edward said, a slight smile on the corners of his mouth. But then the current situation returned to me.

"The werewolves! And the Volturi! We can't just leave the werewolves to fight it out on their own!" I said, preparing to run back.

"Bella, wait!" Edward yelled. I turned around to see that his face looked less than concerned, although there was a slight hardness in his eyes that told me that something may have gone wrong.

"We don't need to run back to help the werewolves. The battle is over. The Volturi started fleeing the moment that they arrived, as they had no intention of fighting them. With you there Bella, the werewolves alone could defeat the Volturi."

"But..." I questioned, knowing there was more.

"The battle wasn't casualty free. On one hand, you will be thrilled to hear that Jacob and Sam have destroyed Alec, meaning that the Volturi lose one of their main advantages. But on the other hand, one of the younger werewolves was killed by Keenan as the Volturi fled."

"Oh no Edward," I whispered. I could imagine how Jacob would feel. A werewolf was killed trying to save me.

"Not everything is lost Bella. Apparently Keenan's power is not as fool proof as it seems. From what I read of Keenan's thoughts in the short battle, he may be able to overpower any vampire with his ability, but it does not work with the werewolves. If he fights one, he goes back to whatever ability he had before using his power, although, either way, Keenan is still quite the powerful enemy. It seems that the werewolves negate his ability whenever he fights them."

"That's a good thing at least," a husky voice panting slightly said from behind me.

"Jacob!" I cried, pleased to see him. I couldn't see a scratch on Jacob, which led me to believe that Alec hadn't put up much of a fight.

"Bella," Jacob murmured as he swept me up into one of his burning hot hugs. I couldn't help but hold my breath at his scent. I still couldn't get used to it after a century. It still smelled just as bad.

"How did you know where to find us?" I asked, enjoying Jacob's presence.

"Well, I was at the house when that bloodsucker arrived. So I ran to La Push and alerted the werewolves, and we followed Edward's scent to the meadow. Weird place too," Jacob added with a slight grimace. "Mind you, the drama nearly sent me insane. This time, we really have to kill those bloodsuckers. Seeing what they did to you… I do not want to see that ever again."

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked Edward. He knew I meant the current situation with the Volturi.

"We need to choose whether we are going to fight or flee," Edward said.


	10. The Marches

Chapter 10 – The Marches

It was a relief returning to the Cullen house. It was a place that I thought I would never see again after being abducted by the Volturi and then being forced to join on the threat of Edward's death. But this relief of seeing the Cullen house was short-founded – the Volturi was still in town and ready to destroy the Cullens.

"Nessie!" I yelled the moment I set foot in the house. My daughter was sitting on the couch with Rosalie, who was clearly comforting her in the absence of her parents and Jacob. Renesmee looked up shocked, then suddenly started to cry the moment she saw the three of us.

"I thought you were all dead," she sobbed the moment she leapt into my open arms. She placed her burning hot hand of my neck, and I couldn't help but want to cry at what she was showing me.

Nessie had been sitting on the couch, and wondering what had happened to Edward and Jacob who had left the house suddenly. She showed her fear for me, and her concern for the others. I took her hand off my neck the moment the images and sensations became too overwhelming.

"Edward, Bella, Jacob," Carlisle called out, voice strained. We all turned to Carlisle as he stood near the kitchen, waiting for an explanation.

"The Volturi was basically trying to forcibly get any of the 'gifted' Cullens as Caius terms it, to join the Volturi, using whatever threats they deemed necessary. They intend to destroy anyone unwilling to join them. As Caius puts it, anyone who isn't useful will be killed. He said in quite graphic detail that he intended to kill you Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, have Rosalie as a 'reward' for his guards, and that he really wants all the Denali's dead especially Eleazar," Edward said, grimacing with each word he spoke.

"I'll show that bastard…" Rosalie hissed, clenching her hands together.

"Language Rose," Carlisle hushed gently. He turned back to Edward. "Then?'

"We were threatened, but the werewolves came at the perfect moment and I fled with Bella. The Volturi fled during the battle, and Alec was killed, along with another werewolf. And now, here we are," Edward concluded.

Esme turned to Carlisle, faced pinched with worry.

"What are we going to do?" she said to Carlisle.

"We fight or flee," Edward answered for him.

"Alice?" Carlisle asked. Alice leapt up front her position on the couch as she started pacing, her mind looking into the future.

"I don't know what to do. The Volturi obviously have not made a decision themselves on what to do next because I have no idea what they will do. Fighting has the obvious risk that we could end up getting killed, but if we don't end it now, the Volturi will be after us for all eternity. If we flee, we could stay unfindable indefinitely as long as Bella can hold her power. We then could choose to fight the Volturi whenever we choose to and therefore we would have more chance of survival. But as we hide, the others might get killed, and the Volturi might manage to get even more powerful vampires that we might not be able to beat. There are pros and cons for both options, Carlisle," Alice concluded as she returned to her seat on the couch.

"Not to be rude or anything, but I really need to get to La Push now for some emergency discussion with the elders," Jacob interrupted in a tone implying that he really didn't care whether he was rude or not. Carlisle nodded.

"Go, and get back here as soon as possible," Carlisle ordered. Jacob nodded, and after giving Renesmee a swift kiss, he ran through what was left of the front door after Keenan smashed it down.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked. I had no idea what Carlisle happened to be thinking, but Edward acted instantly, running up the staircase swiftly only to return with Angela and Ben, who both looked immensely relieved at the sight of me.

"Bella," Ben sighed with relief. I gave him a short smile, hoping he would never find out the uses that Aro had deemed useful for him. It was an insult to a person like him.

Carlisle stood in front of the couch where Alice, Jasper and Rosalie were sitting and coughed slightly to gain the attention of the Cullens there. Emmett stood next to Rosalie while leaning on the couch, while Esme, Angela, Ben, Renesmee, Edward and I remained standing in the room around the couch.

"We need to decide whether we want to leave Forks now or battle the Volturi while they are here," Carlisle stated.

"Esme?"

"I think we should leave. I do not want to fight a violent battle," Esme said from behind me as she toyed with my hair.

"Angela?"

"I agree with Esme. We do not want to endanger each other in a fight with the Volturi."

"Ben?"

"Do you need to ask?" Ben replied with a trace of a grin on his face. "I support whatever action Angela deems necessary. She is always more correct than I am anyway."

"Renesmee?"

"I want to fight. My Jacob will fight and so will I."

I flinched. I didn't want my fragile half-human daughter fighting with vampires. She had obviously inherited that fighting spirit from Jacob. I made a mental note to give Jacob a piece of my mind over that when he returned.

"Edward?"

"We fight. The Volturi deserve to die," Edward hissed menacingly. I knew Edward was thinking of the scene where Aro had blackmailed us to join the Volturi.

"Bella?"

I looked directly into Carlisle's eyes. "I don't want a fight. I am more than strong enough to protect everyone."

The vote continued in the same fashion. Alice and Rosalie both did not want to fight, while Emmett and Jasper we more than eager to. By the time it was Carlisle's turn, we knew where the vote was headed. It was already a majority in the vote to leave while we can, and Carlisle supported that option more than eagerly.

"With the vote concluded, I think it is best if we leave as soon as possible, to leave before the Volturi realise that we are gone. As for location, I have a small but decent house that I brought in Novosibirsk in about the 1850s that is still standing there. Siberia isn't exactly a very sunny place, and I think that you might all enjoy the Russian experience."

"You can speak Russian?" Emmett asked eagerly.

"Of course Em. It's a little necessary if you are living in Russia," Carlisle said while rolling his eyes.

Beside me, Edward was over the disappointment of not fighting, even though I knew he still wanted a chance to fight Keenan. Edward had a curious expression on his face, and I knew instantly that he was already thinking about the quest to learn Russian. Edward seemed to love learning new languages, and part of me was shocked to realise he hadn't learnt Russian yet.

"New language to learn, Edward?" I teased, as Edward grinned back.

"New for you too. But I have had experience learning new languages. You on the other hand…"

Edward let the sentence hang as his grin grew even wider. I knew exactly what Edward was trying to say. I had tried in my century as a vampire to learn languages. With my memory capacity, I was going quite well, except I had only five languages in my arsenal because it had taken me a while to learn them. Compared to Edward, that was dismal.

Suddenly, Edward frowned as he rubbed his temples.

"Edward? Is there something wrong?" I asked. Edward shook his head as if he were shaking off an irksome fly.

"There's a pair of vampires coming here who I don't know but have no intent to harm us. Instead, I think they want to help, except the moment I try to read further into their thoughts, I get this pounding headache that has 'get out of my head' vibes. Carlisle, do you know them?"

Carlisle looked simply stunned.

"If they are both female I know who they are. They deal with thoughts too, but unlike you Edward, who _reads_ them, they actually _put _thoughts into your head. Well, one of them. The other one, I have never met but only heard of. Amelia had never introduced me to her, even though she mentioned her several times."

I was about to ask Carlisle who they were when the doorbell was rung gently, despite the fact that the front door was wide open. Or more accurately, the fact that there was no front door.

Carlisle raced to the door eagerly, and I was stunned with the anticipation on his face. He must obviously like those vampires, but my thoughts were distracted the moment I heard a heartbeat. It wasn't Renesmee's, who looked as shocked as I was. It was another heartbeat, with a fluttering that meant that it could only belong to a half-vampire child.

"Cullen," a cheerful voice said in a military-like style.

"March," Carlisle said stunned. The 'Cullen' and 'March' lines seemed as if they were a method of greeting between two friends. From where I was sitting, Carlisle looked just about gobsmacked at the visitors standing by his doors.

"Aren't you going to let us in, Carlisle?" another voice said, panting slightly. I knew immediately who this voice belonged to. It was the half-vampire child.

"Yes. You two better get inside. I must say, it is a pleasure to finally meet you Aria. I have heard so much about you," Carlisle replied, inviting the guests inside.

The two guests entered the living room. The vampire, as was apparent by the deep burgundy eyes, was tall, thin and elegant and possessed a beauty that could challenge even Rosalie. She had long, straight dark brown hair that was gently curled to her waist, and had an open face that, in my opinion, looked as if it belonged to a princess. For the first time since being a vampire, I felt self-conscious. Edward gave me an exasperated look, as if he had heard my thought.

But what really caught the attention was the half-human child that stood beside her. She was shorter than the vampire beside her, and while the vampire was tall and willowy, the half-human child was more rounded, looking more like a graceful swan in the way that she stood. Her hair was also a dark brown, identical to the vampire's beside her, but it was cropped short and spiked like Alice's. It was her eyes that startled me, eyes that were the colour of wood.

Carlisle stepped forward, introducing us to the guests. "This is Amelia March, one of my oldest friends that I met in Italy."

The vampire grinned, revealing her pearly white teeth as she stood next to Carlisle in a very unladylike manner.

"And this is Aria March, Amelia's daughter," Carlisle finished, pointing to the half-vampire child next to Amelia.

Aria was staring straight at Renesmee. It was clear from her expression she had never met another one of her kind before.

"Go on," I murmured to Nessie as she hesitated. On hearing my encouragement, Renesmee walked up to Aria and introduced herself.

"I am Renesmee, but you can call me Nessie for short," she grinned, holding her hand out. Aria shook her hand, and pointed to the river just behind our house.

"Wanna chat? I mean, we won't go far, but I am immensely curious to talk to you," Aria smiled. I detected the hints of a French accent in her voice and the slightest hesitation in her English.

"Ari, just go. I know you want to, or I will make you, ok?" Amelia interrupted, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Aria seemed to have recognised that expression, as she was in a hurry to leave. Amelia let out a sigh the moment that Renesmee and Aria left the house.

"I've always wanted Aria to meet another half-vampire like herself. I thought it was always too lonely for her just hanging out with the vamps that I either met or created," Amelia said as she seated herself on a chair that seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

"You never told me she was half-human. Whenever you mentioned Aria, I always assumed she was a vampire," Carlisle said, slightly hurt.

"I didn't tell you because you were staying with the Volturi at the time. Anyway, I wasn't lying when I said I had a vampire daughter. I have two children, Aria here, and her half-sister Giselle, who is in France at the moment. " Amelia grimaced at the words. From what I could see, she seemed to have an immersive dislike of the Volturi. It would explain why she was eager to help us.

"I figured that if I told you, you might tell the Volturi, and even the small amount of peace that they gave me will be gone, especially after that bastard Demetri finds out. He would be having a claim for Aria, and I would not permit that."

"You never were a very trusting creature," Carlisle laughed.

"Amelia," Edward said, interrupting the reunion between the friends, "what exactly can you do with your gift? Normally I would be able to tell, but if I look too deeply I get a headache."

Amelia let out a peal of laughter. "As Carlisle had put it, I _put _thoughts into people's head, although that is the nice way to put it. In reality, the word is closer to manipulation. If I want someone to do something, they will do it. I can put in a thought in a person's head to tell them that they wanted to kill the love of their life, or that they wanted to kill themselves all of a sudden, and they would do it. The control is harder when I try to control multiple people, but over time, I can change the very personality of a person. As for you Edward, I don't like people poking around my head. Anyone who tries to read my thoughts gets a thought of their own in their head that tells them they are getting a really bad headache and the first thing they would like to do is to get out of there. It was a set up in case I ever met Aro in person."

Edward grinned. "Well, the Volturi have a new warrior guy who is impossible to beat in normal circumstances because he has a gift that allows him to be physically more powerful than any vampire he faces. Could you stop him?"

I realised the seriousness of this question. Amelia was obviously the person that Alice had mentioned earlier who could control thoughts and help us win. If she could stop Keenan, she could probably stop the entire Volturi.

"As long as I am close to him and not distracted. Should be a piece of cake. So, are you guys going to kick the butts of the Volturi or what? I have been dying to destroy the lot of them the moment that Demetri started running after me, although, it was delightful to mess around with his head and tell him that he could never find me."

The statement about Demetri returned another thought to me.

"About you saying that Demetri could have a claim on Aria…do you mean to say that he is Aria's father?" I asked, not realising when I held my breath.

"Of course he is," Amelia hissed venomously, all laughter gone from her face. "Eleazar, who is apparently upstairs and should be thankful that he is up there, told the Volturi that he had sensed a human would who have a very powerful ability as a vampire. Aro sent Demetri along, who found the human in question a shattered young woman who had given birth to her first child yet so upset about it. Demetri thought of a method to 'cheer' this said young woman up, who, of course, felt the exact opposite. I fled the moment he went to report to Aro. I was good enough at evading him that he didn't find me again until a century later in London."

I couldn't help but be shocked. No wonder why Amelia had such a hatred of the Volturi. She had obviously seen right past their role of being the rulers of the vampire world and seen them for people who liked to collect 'treasures', namely people who had powerful abilities.

"Well, Carlisle, what are we going to do now?" Edward asked, eyebrow raised as he pondered Amelia's statements.

"Fighting doesn't look that bad now. With Amelia and Aria along, we might just be able to order the Volturi to dance the jive for us."

The peals of laughter that rang through the house was an indication of how the odds had changed from the morning. The Cullens had more than a hope. We had aces up our sleeves that even the Volturi had little knowledge about.


	11. Now or Never

Chapter 11 – Now or Never

**Bella Cullen**

"If I knew you could joke like that Carlisle, I might have followed you to America," Amelia said, after the ringing laughter stopped. I couldn't help but feel on a high after realising that the Volturi could be easily beaten as long as Amelia wasn't distracted enough to use her power. From what I heard, it seemed that she really needed to think when she used her ability to manipulate and control the minds of other people.

"This might seem rude but what is Aria's ability?" I asked. I was very interested in finding this out, as Renesmee had 'flipped' my ability to block any vampire from my mind. I wondered what ability Aria had inherited from her parents.

"Not rude at all! Aria can instantly tell who is around the area but just feeling the minds around her, an ability I bet she got from Demetri who tracks people through their minds, as I can only tell who a person is if I listen to their thoughts then add my own in. Aria can also enter a person's mind and take away their thoughts. It might not sound bad, but I asked her to try it on me once – it was horrible." Amelia couldn't help shivering. "Aria just makes you not think – can you imagine a scene where you are simply incapable of thinking – you are blank, empty, devoid of everything. It is a very effective torture technique that I have seen her use, because it just drives people insane."

"Torture?" I asked in a voice that was slightly higher than I expected.

"You are just so innocent Bella!" Amelia laughed, her burgundy eyes gleaming maliciously. I saw Edward giving Amelia a meaningful look that I noticed she ignored.

"As a vampire – and even as a human – I was always quite the blood thirsty character. Aria has inherited that from me too. You should hear what I did to my human mother – ooh, that was nasty and I enjoyed it. Worthless wretch deserved it. She only cared about improving her station in life, and utterly ruined mine the moment she could. It was my revenge – but that wasn't the only time that Aria has done that for me."

I felt several chills up my back. Amelia reminded me of the Romanians, Vladimir and Stefan that were also eager to defeat the Volturi. They seemed to both enjoy violence, seeing as they had once made a flippant comment about ripping the eyes out of the Volturi that had made me stay away from them afterwards. Amelia and Aria had seemed nice enough but now…

"Don't be prejudiced Bella!" Amelia cried out, amused. "I mean you no harm. Maybe I'll tell you the story of my human life – you might understand why I am who I am."

Carlisle was standing next to Amelia with no sign of fear. If Carlisle had no issues with Amelia, then I figured I would do my best to be friendly, violence driven character or not.

"The Volturi have certainly met their match this time," a soft silky voice that I instantly recognised said. Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear, I couldn't help thinking as the Romanians entered.

"Stefan, Vladimir," Carlisle said, the image of the welcoming host. "You got our call?"

"Certainly," Vladimir chuckled. "We had to come along to watch the show. You may not have gotten into a battle with the Volturi a century ago, but I am certain this time there will be a fight. I could almost guess the Volturi will fall."

During the arrival of the Romanians, I noticed that Amelia had ignored them completely. Instead, her focus was on the small audience that was sitting on the couch ready to listen to her story.

"Are you going to start or not?" Emmett demanded. Amelia grinned.

"Careful with what you say. I might get offended," Amelia replied, causing Emmett to sink slightly into the couch as Rosalie smirked at him.

"I was born as Mary March, Amelia being a name I gave myself, in London during the early years of the rule of King Edward, son of Henry VIII. My father was a member of a rich family, the Marches, however, when I was about one, he was disowned. My mother, on the other hand, came from a typical English family and married my father for his money. Him being disowned really hurt her quest for riches.

"However, soon that didn't matter as my mother, who was well liked by the Marches, managed to get a role as one of the senior maids for Queen Mary when she took over. She was so well liked by the Marches that they adopted her and she got the inheritance lost by my father.

"For several months she tried to turn me into the perfect daughter. But due to her absence in the first few years of my life, I was my father's child. And so my mother gave up on me and my father, barely giving us any money to survive on as she gained riches befitting a royal. Soon, we didn't even live in the same house.

"I spent my years in a street gang in order to gain enough money to survive. One day, when I was fifteen, we robbed the home of a rich duke, but the robbery went wrong, and the duke was killed. My mother, of which I did not realise until was too late, had watched every move I made and knew it was my gang who killed the man. Days later, me, a fifteen year old girl, was been accused for murder and destined to be beheaded, an order encouraged by my mother.

"Using the stolen money, I fled to France. In France, I encountered a manipulative man who had tried earlier to get his niece on the throne of France by getting the French king to fall in love with her, but she rather didn't like her uncle and left him. He offered to adopt me as his niece as long as I would help him, and I accepted. Within a few years I was a respectable Frenchwoman, who had made the King of France himself fall in love with me. I was happy. I was then Mary Bodicoeur, and happy to renounce my English roots and my name.

"I was twenty-three, pregnant with the King's child, and nearly Queen of France. Queen Mary and her servants came to court, and everything went wrong that night."

Amelia closed her eyes in anguish. Alice, who was on the couch wasn't playing any attention to Amelia. Instead, her eyes were staring vacantly into the future. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted that one of the Romanians, Stefan, was playing rapt attention to Amelia's story.

"My mother recognised me and denounced me as a criminal of England. When Queen Mary had backed her up, it was all over for me. I fled that night, fled to the first place I thought of –Italy. I had learnt Italian in France and put that to good use.

"It was the night that I gave birth to Giselle several months after fleeing that Demetri had come for me. I was scared, so scared of him, but when he left, I fled all over Italy, eager to invade him.

"In time, I gave birth to Aria, who bit me and turned me into a vampire. I spent a few years in Italy before I returned to England, turned my father, and a year later, we took our revenge on the woman who never cared about us. I won't go into detail only that her killing became the most gruesome murder case in London.

"I used my power to manipulate the King of France to accept Giselle as his only heir, and spent the rest of my time in France as Giselle grew up and became Queen. When she got fatally ill after giving birth, I turned her, and later her husband Roger, and returned to England.

"It was about a century after my birth when Demetri found me. My father was killed in the struggle, but I managed to tamper Demetri's thoughts before he could take me to the Volturi. I'll just say that I spent the rest of my vampire years either in France with Giselle and Roger, or in Australia with Aria."

"Wow!" Emmett said, grinning like a child at the conclusion of the story. I couldn't help sighing at his reaction. "You were quite cool as a human."

"You call that only cool, Emmett? I hope you use your torture techniques on the Volturi when we fight them Amelia," Stefan said heartily, looking directly at Amelia who raised her eyebrow. Vladimir laughed chillingly.

"Carlisle," Alice said urgently, cutting off Vladimir's demented laughter. All the heads in the room, earlier focused on Amelia, turned to Alice as her eyes snapped back to the present.

Within seconds, the guests that had been upstairs had suddenly appeared in the now-too-crowded living room. I saw the Denalis on the extreme left-hand corner of the room, with Eleazar looking especially uneasy. I knew it was because of Amelia, because even I could feel the vibes of hatred from her. Who knew what Jasper was feeling, sitting only a metre away from her. The Amazons and the Irish coven were standing together, waiting silently for Alice to speak. Benjamin and Tia were standing solemnly in front of them, but Renesmee and Aria remained outside, unconcerned about Alice's vision.

"What did you see?" Carlisle implored urgently.

"We really have to choose now. If we do not leave within two days, the Volturi will block us completely and we will have no choice but to fight, because there will be no way that we could flee. For the best case scenario, if we wanted to go to Novosibirsk, we should leave tomorrow," Alice said, annoyance on her face. It was clear from her expression that the constrained time frame was really annoying her.

"Only two days?" I asked, shocked. We had earlier decided to flee, but now that the option was available, I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I really wanted to see the end of the Volturi.

Emmett tapped his foot impatiently on the foot of the couch.

"So now what?" he muttered, impatience on his face.

* * *

**Jacob Black**

The meeting with the Elders certainly hadn't helped my bad mood. I still didn't know if the Cullens were going to leave Forks or not, and it was something that I felt that I deserved to know. After all, I _was _imprinted to Renesmee, and if Bella still had an issue with that it wasn't my problem. I would go to the corners of the world for my Renesmee.

I shifted instantly into my wolf form, the bad mood evaporating the moment I let myself loose and _ran_. The feeling of the wind on my fur… it was bliss. But certainly not with the thoughts that were running through my mind.

_Jake, _Quil thought as he turned tail and ran for my direction instead. _There's some kinda problem down in the forest. There is something that feels weird in there, and Sam is going to check it out. It feels bad though._

_I agree with that one Quil, _Embry said, joining in the conversation. I paid no attention the moment I saw the forms of Embry and Quil beside me. All I did was keep running, feeling the slight strain in Quil as he tried to keep up.

_Jake! Embry! Quil!, _an urgent voice cried out. I stopped running the moment I recognised Seth's thoughts.

_What?_

_Don't go any deeper into the forest! I've just contacted Sam, and he needs us all in the other side of the forest near the beach. The Volturi aren't attacking the Cullens. They've coming to La Push to destroy _us_! The fight has just started in the forest! _I've never heard the panic in Seth's voice before. Even when we confronted the Volturi a century ago with the Cullens and their bloodsucker friends , Seth hadn't reacted this way before. I felt the fear coming in on the thought that those disgusting bloodsuckers were attacking on _our _territory. The Volturi had never attacked us openly on our land before.

_Seth, where is Leah? I can't feel her here, _I asked. I gave a silent order to Quil and Embry to run to the location that Seth had told us to go to.

_She hasn't phased yet. I'm running back to fetch her them I'll join you. The battle seems bad. I can hear the screaming from here, _Seth said, before I felt him phase back to human.

_C'mon, _I muttered to Quil and Embry. We ran as quickly as we could to the beach, concentrating on the sound of our paws hitting the ground, rather than the howls and screams that we could hear from the forest. We also focused our sense of smell on the forest around us. With our sensitive noses, the smells of blood and smoke were hard to bear. I knew we had reached the battle the moment that I saw sunlight break through the canopy of the forest, only to be met with the scene of fighting werewolves and sparkling vampires.

Quil and Embry disappeared with a flash, jumping into the middle of the battle. I, however, waited. I wanted to find that Volturi bloodsucker warrior that had made Bella's face twist into such a broken expression that I had even felt like shattering myself. I might be imprinted to Renesmee, but I still loved Bella, even after she chose Edward over me. And I had felt uncomfortable when I had seen that warrior's fangs in Edward's neck. He didn't deserve to die that way, bloodsucker or not.

The moment I saw him, I leapt into the battle. My thoughts were filled with nothing more than an animal hatred, and a need to destroy this filthy monster. To protect the ones I loved. Bella. Renesmee. And my home. I would not let these pathetic bloodsuckers stop me from doing my duty. I felt it the moment that Leah and Seth entered the battle. All I was concerned about was destroying the grinning creature before me. I really wanted to make him squirm without the use of his power. So long bloodsucker, I thought, the moment that I crashed into the vampire.

**Note****: For Amelia's story, I know that the timeline of the ruling of Queen Mary is off by a quite a few years. From what I recall, she only ruled for five or so years, so don't complain about the history being wrong! I know it, but it was the only way that the story would work out properly. If you really want to find the exact facts, you can just google it.**


	12. Two Thoughts

Chapter 12 – Two thoughts

**Renesmee Cullen**

Something was wrong here. I knew it with every cell in my body. When I had stopped Mum's Ferrari in front of my Jacob's house, Jacob hadn't come running to me, ready to give me a hug and kiss. Instead, I waited in front of his house for over an hour, feeling like an absolute idiot, as it became apparent that Jacob wasn't there. That something must have happened to prevent my Jacob from coming out to me.

Instead, I saw Leah and Seth walking down the footpath out in front of Jacob's house, with Leah looking flushed and excited and clearly looking hyped up about a fight, but Seth looking worried and fearful as he reluctantly followed Leah. I poked my head out of the car window as they walked past, my hair shimmering as the wind blew through it.

"Leah! Seth! Have you seen Jacob?" I called out to them, not surprised as Leah curled her face in distaste. Leah still had issues with my family being vampires (those bloodsuckers as she termed them constantly), and I really didn't like the way that she always sniffed her nose in distaste every time I visited La Push. How long did it take a werewolf to get used to things? Leah was certainly changing the werewolf benchmark for things.

"Nessie!" Seth called out, sounding frantic but looking relieved. "Go tell the Cullens that the Volturi are attacking in the forest near the beach. Jacob is there at the moment. And he gives the rest of your family permission to cross into our lands to help us fight!"

"Come on," Leah muttered mutinously, poking Seth hard in the ribs, before giving me a condescending look. Seth looked nervous at Leah's expression.

"Go now Nessie! Urgently! Just go!" Seth added in response to Leah's expression, before leaving and running with Leah down to the beach. I knew they would phase the moment that they reached the beach.

Grumbling, I reached into the cream coloured glove box and pulled out my iPhone, dialling Carlisle's number and tapping my other hand impatiently on the other seat as the ringing continued. Finally, Carlisle picked up.

"Nessie?" he said, strained. "Are you okay? You've been ages."

"I'm fine," I replied, voice cracking, feeling my heartbeat increase in panic for Jacob. "But the werewolves aren't. The Volturi have attacked La Push, and you all have permission to come down and help."

Carlisle's response to my statement was the sudden intake of breath.

**Bella Cullen**

It couldn't be true. Surely it couldn't be. Why would the Volturi risk losing any of their warriors in a battle with the werewolves? Surely they needed these warriors to fight us, the Cullens, and all of our friends that they intended to destroy in their quest for vengeance? There was only one reason why the Volturi would fight the werewolves.

"The Volturi obviously believe that they will have no problems beating us if they are willing to battle the werewolves first. They want to fight the werewolves so they cannot fight with us when the Volturi attack. In the Volturi's mind, with the werewolves gone, they will be unbeatable, even with the inevitable loss of several of their warriors. And they have a point. Even with _our _advantages, we may not be able to beat the Volturi. There are those that Bella's gift cannot affect," Edward said bitterly, voicing the thoughts that were definitely running through the minds of everyone in the room.

"The werewolves have given us permission to cross into their lands. Can you imagine how bad the situation is down there if the werewolves are willing to let their worst enemies there? For the first time in a few centuries, the Cullens will be allowed to step foot on Quileute territory. This is bad. Extremely bad," Angela murmured. Tanya looked at her uneasily as Angela continued to mutter under her breath, commenting on how sick the Volturi made her feel and exactly how bad their situation was.

"Does this invitation extend to those who aren't part of the Cullens?" Siobhan asked. "Those vampires that feed on human blood as well? We do know that the Quileute's aren't exactly fond of our type of vampire, because they seem determined to try and preserve the human population from us."

"Nessie didn't say," Carlisle replied, biting his lip. "She just said that we all of permission to come down, but I have no idea who she was referring to. But at the moment, I think that the werewolves will care little about this problem. They are in battle at the moment, battling to save their species and lands from the Volturi. I don't think they'll leave the battle just to kill the first vampire to step onto their lands."

"And the Volturi are definitely better to kill than the friends of the Cullens," Amelia purred.

"Then that is settled," Carlisle said. "I cannot guarantee your safety if you do go down to La Push, but in my opinion I don't think the werewolves will attack you. They will have their hands full with the Volturi."

"Does your statement mean that we are going to fight with the werewolves in La Push?" Emmett asked eagerly. I really had to resist the urge to slap him on the face.

**Jacob Black**

This guy was harder than I thought! I glared heavily at the muscular vampire that stood before me, snarling. I had been trying to rip that Volturi warrior Keenan to bits for ages, and then send him burning up in a nice pile of fire, but everything that I had tried against him hadn't worked. Keenan had just kept dodging and dodging. The only damage that I had done to him was rip part of his left wrist off – and his only reaction to that was to shrug at his missing hand as it fell to the grass.

I stepped back into a more defensive stance as Keenan prepared to attack, stepping into a crouch that I recognised as offensive. I suppressed a moan of agony as I stepped back onto my right hind leg. Keenan had earlier smashed his ice cold hand on my leg, shattering the bone, and while it was healing quickly, it still wasn't healed enough for me to do any fancy movements on that leg. For the first time ever, I realised that I could actually die in this battle, that a bloodsucker could actually kill me.

_Jake? I did not just hear you think that, _Seth moaned the moment that I had my thought. _I'm coming._

Seconds later, as Keenan leapt into mid air to attack, a sandy brown werewolf crashed right into him, landing heavily on top of him.

_Seth! _I cried out, partly in anger and concern, as I watched Keenan hiss in fury and survey the sandy werewolf that was eying him eagerly. I had barely cried out when Keenan leapt at Seth, his eyes flashing with menace.

Seth let out a howl as I heard the loud crack of snapping bones – Keenan had crashed squarely into Seth's chest, and from the way that Seth had landed, I knew that Keenan had broken his ribcage.

"I have always wondered what werewolf blood tastes like, despite the smell," Keenan smirked as he prepared to make his first kill.

With a howl of fury, I pushed Keenan away from Seth, my teeth managing to grip onto his arm. Clenching my teeth together, I pulled away from Keenan, feeling satisfaction the moment that Keenan yelped as his right elbow was ripped off.

_Seth, get your furry butt of out of here. You'll just get yourself killed! I might get killed defending you! Go back to La Push and STAY there!_

_But Jake, you aren't doing too well either-_

_I DON'T care! I am doing far better than you at the moment. Now, get out of here. I really need to concentrate._

_Listen to Jacob Seth. I order you to! _Leah ordered mutinously. _Go before I drag you by your tail!_

I sent Leah a feeling of gratitude as Seth, despite his injuries, managed to disappear quickly from the scene of our fight. Within seconds, it was again a battle between me and Keenan. I could almost swear that the dark-haired leader of the Volturi smirked in my direction for a second as he stood away from the battle, watching the fights calmly.

**Bella Cullen**

"Emmett," Carlisle said, exasperated. "This isn't a game. It is a battle of life and death. It will be nothing like battling Victoria's newborns."

"Exactly," Tanya joined in, annoyed. "But to answer your question, yes, we will fight. The werewolves are allies and friends of the Cullens. We can't leave them to their own devices, as if we fight the Volturi alone, even with Amelia and Aria, we may lose. They can't stop everybody, and it is these everybody's that can end up killing us."

"And," Edward added smiling grimly, "if we join the werewolves to fight, we will have a better chance of winning. We will be fighting together, and then we will have more chance."

"Excellent…" the two Romanians hissed.

The back door of the house suddenly slammed open as Renesmee ran in, panting. She took one look at us, and collapsed into a vacant chair.

"If we are going we must hurry. I don't feel right. Something is happening to my Jacob," Renesmee whispered warily.

"So, we are fighting," Carlisle said calmly.

"Yes. It is the only option that I see for us. But I can't see too much, as our futures are intertwined with the werewolves," Alice said.

"Reassuring," I snorted. Alice gave me a short glare.

"Let's go," Carlisle ordered. It became mayhem in the house, as over twenty vampires stood up suddenly, rushing for the door, ready to finally fight the Volturi.

"We're running?" Kate asked. Carlisle nodded in affirmative.

"I think we will know when we are there. Now, let's hurry!"

The Cullen house, that was seconds ago milling with vampires, was suddenly empty, as the vampires all disappeared silently into the forest.

**Jacob Black**

Something had changed. Keenan had suddenly jerked his head to his left, in the direction of Forks, as the wind kept blowing into my nose, bringing with it the harshly sweet smell of vampires directly into my nose.

I took advantage of his monetary distraction to attack, as I successfully tore off the rest of his right arm. Keenan looked back at me furiously, giving me several hard kicks that sent me spinning into the air and landing in a painful heap, as Keenan caught what was left of his arm and reattached it to his shoulder.

I could feel the fractures in my rib cage, as the pain pounded within my body. I was not ready to give up on a fight with Keenan, but I just felt so sore and weary, with the constant numbing sensation of my healing body as a distraction. If something was bothering that annoying bloodsucker, I would be more than happy to rip his miserable head off. This was, after all, the vampire willing to drink werewolf blood. Disgusting bloodsucker.

"You know what, wolfie? There are better battles to fight. There's a certain vampire that I would be more than eager to hear scream again," Keenan laughed. He disappeared in a blur, picking up the other pieces that I had ripped off him earlier, as I stood on the grass, shaking in my wolf-form. That vampire had clearly referred to Bella. That meant that the Cullens and Co. were here, or at least nearby.

_Sam, the Cullens and their bloodsucker friends are here! Keenan has just gone after Bella!_

_They actually came, _Sam thought surprised. I threw him a disgruntled expression. Sure, I could only really stand Bella and Nessie, and maybe the blond doctor, but I still trusted the Cullens to help us out with this fight, especially with the fact that Sam and I had agreed to give the vampires permission to fight on our lands.

I blocked all the other distracting thoughts from my mind, and ignored the pain that was running through my body. With an iron will, I launched myself after Keenan, not noticing the bodies of the werewolves that lay dead on the ground, or of the choking purple pyres that towered towards the sky as the vampires burned.

If Keenan was going after Bella and managed to kill her, the Cullens and the werewolves would have no chance. I might not be able to beat Keenan, but I would do my best to save Bella, the vampire that could save us again today.

**There aren't many chapters left in this story! I will definitely finish this story by the end of May. I know it is another cliffhanger, but there will be some serious and emotional fighting going on next chapter! How you are enjoying the story and keep reading! I may also start re-editing some earlier chapters, as I have found errors that I am itching to correct. On an extra note, I have enabled anonymous reviews, so feel free to review! **


	13. The Battle Begins

**Warning****: This chapter gets violent as you read on. Beware. You have been warned. And read to the end. Trust me, I'm not killing the Cullens. **

Chapter 13 – The Battle Begins

**Bella Cullen**

Running through that dark and damp green forest and finally running into the clearing where the werewolves and the Volturi were fighting was a huge relief. I no longer had to think that I was betraying Jacob by leaving him and his werewolves to fight alone – I was here, and more than ready to destroy the Volturi.

My relief was short lived. One quick glance at the scene in front of me revealed devastation, death, and the smell of bitter revenge. It was a killing ground. The trees that were surrounding the round clearing had been mostly either knocked down by the fighting vampires and werewolves, or were leaning precariously on their sides. The ground, which I was pretty sure had been covered with grass earlier was now dripping wet with the blood of werewolves, and covered by many burning pyres that was sending choking purple smoke up into the atmosphere. It looked like a killing ground. It smelt like a killing ground. It even sounded like a killing ground, with the constant yowling of the werewolves, or the high pitched screams of the vampires. This was the scene that we were launched into.

"Go," Edward said, his face looking paler than ever. Maybe it was the scene in front of him, or the lighting of the sun, I didn't know. All I knew was that Edward looked as sick as I felt.

The sound that directed me to Jacob was a peal of demented laughter. I turned to see Jacob in his wolf-form, looking battered, bloody, and clearly limping. I had barely enough time to take in Jacob's appearance before he disappeared in a blur, going after an unseen vampire.

"Jake," I croaked, startled. Edward grasped my right tightly, as his burning golden eyes bore into mine.

"Promise me, Bella, that you will get out of this alive. Promise me," Edward said, eyes burning. His hand shook from the ferocity of his grip.

"I promise," I returned in an equally fierce voice. Giving Edward a quick kiss on the cheek, I turned, and ran directly into the battle, filled with an uncontrollable urge to help.

The first thing I did was to fling my shield out to cover all of my family and our friends. It gave me great comfort to have the glowing presence of their minds protected by my shield. Seconds later, the werewolves too were under my protection the moment that Sam and Jacob's minds were under there. That would help to immediately nullify the Volturi's main advantage. I grinned, as I reviewed the knowledge that I had of fighting in my head. Should be more than enough to deal with Jane, I though, feeling the excitement. I wanted to kill Jane so badly as revenge for her attack on Angela and Ben a century earlier.

I had been concentrating so hard on my thoughts of revenge that I did not notice it until too late when a large, burly and extremely familiar vampire crashed into me, forcing all the air out of my lungs and throwing me clear of the battleground and into the forest. Away from the people who could've helped me. I stood up the moment that I felt the momentum from the attack stop, and rubbing my arm slightly, I couldn't help but take in the massive figure of the vampire Keenan that stood in front of me, leering.

"Well, I guess wolfie has no idea that you are here and that dear Edward doesn't either," Keenan grinned. I took a step back, horrified. There was no way that I could win this. I had just had this thought when Felix, another Volturi warrior, stepped into the newly-made clearing.

"Guess you got her alone and cornered. No fun and games, Keenan. Aro and Caius have ordered her death," Felix said, giving me a wink at the word 'death'.

"Then tell Aro and Caius to do their own dirty work," I couldn't help snarling. I was sick of Aro and Caius just getting their warriors to do their dirty work for them. They should learn how to do it themselves later on. I couldn't help but think that the thought of my impending death was making me go loony. I was about to die, and I was worrying about the fact that Aro and Caius weren't doing their own dirty work! I should be worrying about defeating the Volturi, and keeping my promise to Edward.

The moment I thought of Edward, the hold that the thought of death on my mind had shattered. Barely a second had passed as I thought my options out. I could not fight Felix or Keenan, but there were definitely people who could. I flung my shield away from my mind with desperation, seeking, and hoping that Edward was listening. If he wasn't, I was a dead vampire standing.

_Edward!_ I yelled in my mind, forcing the thought through the battle clearing. _Get Aria, Amelia and yourself here now! Or I am DEAD. You hear me. DEAD. D. E. A.D. DEAD._

I had barely finished my thought to Edward before Keenan attacked me, knocking me to the ground. My shield slammed back to my head with a brutal force, protecting my mind, but that was little consolation the moment I felt the worst pain that I had felt since being turned into a vampire. No, worse than being turned. The pain incapacitated me, as it spread from my left shoulder down to the very tips of my left arm. Never had I felt a pain so intense, and when the pain stopped, I felt free of it, only to realise that I couldn't feel my left arm. I wriggled my left hand and felt no response. Through my loud gasps, I realised what had happened. Keenan had tore my left hand clean off my shoulder.

Keenan stood away from me as I lay in the ground, still, and gasping from the sudden pain. I didn't feel like fighting. I felt as if something had disappeared the moment that Keenan had tore off my arm. I immediately sympathised with any vampire who got torn to bits. _Edward! _I cried out with my thoughts desperately. _Edward. Why aren't you saving me. I'm going to die._

I was again in the grip of death. I could no longer think straight, no longer realise that my thoughts could be causing Edward pain. I wasn't even lucid when I felt a vampire grab my neck roughly, and the other grab my feet in his hands. I couldn't tell who was who, even with my vampire senses. They were overwhelmed with the thought that I was going to die.

"Her leg next. That silky smooth leg of hers. I wish I could keep it as a souvenir. Shame I have to burn it with the rest of her," Keenan laughed, but I heard it as if my head was underwater. Keenan reminded me of James, the vampire tracker who had tried to kill me as a human. Déjà vu. Ha ha. My thoughts wondered around incoherently, wondering why Edward wasn't saving me, before I felt that sharp pain in my right leg. Seconds later, I felt myself being dumped on the ground as my leg was torn off. I wasn't even aware that I was screaming my throat out from the burning pain. Imagine how it would feel to be burned to ashes…

"Shut her up, shut her up!" Keenan yelled furiously as my scream continued. But his yell was overpowered by a bull-like roar of utter fury and hatred.

"Get your filthy hands off of Bella!" Edward screamed, as he leapt forward. His voice spun me out of my reverie as I became aware of my surroundings, and realised there was a dull throbbing on the corners of my left shoulder and right leg.

I groaned as I tried to reach for my right leg, which was now lying forgotten on the forest floor where Keenan had dropped it when Edward attacked. But I had forgotten about Felix, who immediately picked it up.

"Bella, we are going to have some fun with you," Felix smirked as he waved my severed leg around like a baton.

"No," I said, my eyes boring into Felix's. I refused to lie down and let Felix play with me. Edward was fighting for his life, and with Keenan temporarily out of the way, I wanted to fight Felix.

I used the remaining strength in my attached leg to suddenly jump at Felix, and I managed to grab my left arm. Moving deftly, I reattached it to my shoulder, feeling the pain immediately subside as my arm reattached. I felt better, and I grabbed Felix with both of my arms as he flew forward towards me.

"Going to kill me with one leg Bella? You sure are a fighter," Felix laughed. Bending my elbows slightly, I pushed back violently, sending Felix flying into the trees. It felt good. I never knew I could do that. Checking to see if my shield was in place, I hopped forward until I found my leg lying where Felix had dropped it. Reattaching it swiftly, I barely had enough time to duck as Felix flew forward, hands on my neck, as we crashed into a sturdy tree. The tree held, and I was suddenly face to face with Felix, as he gripped my neck in his hands.

"You better stop, Edward, or Bella's head is about to fly off," Felix sang.

Edward let out a snarl, but I noticed from the corner of my eyes that Edward continued to circle around Keenan, occasionally moving his arms with a blur to block Keenan's attack, or to lash out with a quick strike. But I knew that the only reason why Edward had lasted go long against Keenan was the fact that he could read his mind – if Edward hadn't had that advantage, I could almost imagine the pyre of fire that he would be burning in.

"I am not stupid, Felix," Edward gritted through clenched teeth. No doubt that Edward had peeked into Felix's mind. I wanted to say something, something to encourage Edward, but Felix had clenched his hands tightly around my neck, and I couldn't breathe. "You intend to get me to stop fighting so Keenan can rip my head off. Seriously, with brains that big, I am surprised that you managed to survive this long."

Felix let out a snarl, and tightened the grip around my neck. Feeling the pain beginning to throb at my neck, I used every ounce of my strength to try and prise off Felix's arms. It seemed that Felix had only just realised that he was holding my neck in his hands, as he smiled at the increased pressure that I had forced onto his arms and grinned at Edward. Edward froze, realising his mistake. By insulting Felix, he had just put my life on the line again.

I stood there, my back to the hard tree that I was pinned to, and I waited for the moment of pain that I would feel when Felix ripped my head off. I closed my eyes, only to hear a loud metallic screeching, and a dull thud as something fell to the forest floor. I opened my eyes, and would've run to Edward's body if I could've.

Keenan laughed as he held Edward's head in his arms.

"Easy to startle that one, wasn't it? Just get the guy to focus on Bella and wham, I rip his head off," Keenan laughed with an intensity enough to freeze water. I felt weak, and hollow. Edward was soon to die, and so was I. All I could hope for was that Felix and Keenan would burn us in the same pyre together. Then, our ashes could be together for all eternity.

My distraction was all that Felix needed to rip my head off. I felt the same burning sensation of pain from before now focused on my neck, but this time, the dream-like state that I had been in when I lost my limbs had intensified. I felt as if I drifted deep underwater, but had no control as to where I could go. I couldn't feel myself. I could barely hear. My vision was grey with the pain. The rational part of my brain figured that this sensation came due to the fact that my vampire senses were overloaded with pain, and urged me to fight it, urged me to clear my mind and find the light. But the irrational part of me wanted to die. To end it all. To end all of my pain and drift away to the numbing freedom… and to be with Edward.

A harsh growl of annoyance came as if it were from above the water, snapping my mind slightly from the numbness that held it tight in its hands, but not allowing me to be away from it entirely.

"Edward? Bella? Oh shit," a female voice yelled. Someone laughed, and it sounded like Keenan.

"Ooh, look at her sexy body. Felix, that woman is mine. You can have the other. She smells….she's half-human!" Keenan exclaimed, voice rising in shock.

My befuddled mind realised that the people that had found us must have been Amelia and Aria. No one else could attract that kind of reaction.

"Volturi. Scum, the whole lot of you," Amelia snarled. I forced my mind out of the underwater state that I felt it was floating in, and I blinked slightly as my vision sharpened. The light bit into my eyes, but I saw it when Keenan flew to attack Amelia.

One second I was lying on the ground, head detached from my body. The next second, I found myself lying on my back, with full use of my arms and body. I sat up slowly, wincing, and saw the beautiful, yet concerned face of Aria.

"We got here just in time. I had no idea what was happening until Alice saw the future. I'm sorry," she said forlornly.

I sat up and examined my settings. Edward was already standing up, but leaning on a tree, as he watched something curiously. I turned my gaze to follow his and saw that Keenan, Felix and Amelia were standing near the entrance of the clearing, perfectly still. Amelia's burgundy eyes glowed a menacing red, and I saw the concentration on her eyes as she focused on Keenan and Felix. All I could see of Keenan were his hands, which were shaking as he tried to throw off Amelia's control. However, Felix was still, and I realised that Amelia controlled him utterly.

"No, Amelia hasn't got complete control of Felix because she needs all of her focus for Keenan. I have, and I think it is time you rip both of them apart before Amelia loses control. She is startled by the strength of Keenan's mind," Aria whispered.

I looked at Edward. He nodded as we stepped towards Felix, ready to destroy him.


	14. The First Casualty

**Warning :**** Some swearing in this chapter and more violence, and the rating is probably a high T. Just as a warning you know? And please spare a minute to review!**

Chapter 14 – The First Casualty

I felt every nerve in my body screaming with tension as Edward and I walked towards the still form of Felix as he stood still under Aria's control. I saw his eyes look frantically towards the shaking figure of Keenan as we stepped further towards him. But I could see from the set and pained look on Felix's face that he realised that he was about to die. Because this time, Keenan was in no condition to attack anybody and save him. This time, we were in control of the situation.

"Why can he still look at Keenan and realise that he is going to die?" I whispered to Aria as Edward continued stepping forwards towards Felix. I had decided to step back at the last moment, because I felt I didn't have it within me to kill Felix. A part of me pitied him.

"It's instinctive. It's an emotion not a thought so I can help it. And don't ask me any more questions. I don't want to risk losing control," Aria replied. Her eyes turned back to Felix as she finished replying, and I noticed that the look of panic on Felix's face had disappeared, replaced by an empty blankness. Aria's power seemed to be more powerful with direct eye contact.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Edward said stonily, as he placed his hands on Felix's frozen head, ready to tear it off. I remained next to Aria, wondering whether or not to watch, or whether I should just shut my eyes.

Several things happened that second. Firstly, Amelia was suddenly thrown onto the ground, yelling out in pain, as Keenan, released of her control leapt directly at Edward. Secondly, I saw Edward leap away from the now unfrozen Felix as a white blur flashed towards him, ready to kill. Thirdly, Jane entered the clearing, eyes blazing as she looked down upon Amelia who was on the ground. And lastly, I found myself in the middle of several battles, realising that my shield had slipped and had allowed Jane to attack Amelia.

The pitch of the screaming in the clearing changed abruptly as Amelia slowly stood up from the forest floor, her eyes blazing with a terrifying menace as she approached the writhing figure of Jane. Jane was now lying on the forest floor, her high angelic scream echoing throughout the forest. Amelia's comments about being able to utterly control a person's thoughts suddenly made more sense. While Amelia had claimed that she had the power to split lovers such as Edward and me apart, I was cynical about the fact that she could actually do that. But from this current display, I realised that it was true. Amelia was clearly getting Jane to use her gift on herself, and the smirk on her lips also showed the control that she held over her. I definitely didn't ever want to get onto her bad side. Ever.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Edward and Keenan were fighting once again. Keenan seemed to have been made extremely furious under the time while he was under Amelia's control, as he attacked Edward with a new unleashed fury, Edward barely dodging his attacks. The speed of which Keenan was attacking was negating any advantage that Edward had by reading his thoughts. But where was Felix? With Jane's arrival shattering the peace that was created when Amelia and Aria controlled Felix and Keenan, I had seen Felix disappear as Keenan moved to attack Edward. And with Amelia dealing with Jane, there was no one to deal with Felix, should he attack.

I tensed myself into a defensive position as I looked for Felix, but then realised that there was a better move that I could make in this situation. I turned to Amelia, unsurprised to see that she was still standing over a squirming Jane.

"Amelia! Just kill her quickly! Not everyone else's battle is going as well as you at the moment! I can take her!" I yelled furiously to Amelia, as she still continued to stand above Jane screaming on the ground. She gave me a sardonic gaze of annoyance, before releasing her control on Jane. Jane stopped screaming as she lay on the forest floor, breathing deeply from the pain that was seconds ago running wild within her body. I flung my shield towards her, preventing her from using her power of pain against anyone, including herself, in case Amelia changed her mind. I thought that Amelia was quite the unstable character. Then I stepped towards Jane, eager to finally destroy Jane with my bare hands.

"Suit yourself then," Amelia hissed as she walked away. I hadn't noticed how scary she looked when she was annoyed, but I could now clearly see the annoyance on her face. She had clearly wanted to torture Jane into madness before she killed her.

"Keenan is yours," I added quickly, willing to placate her.

"I wouldn't have released Jane if I knew I wasn't going to fight him," Amelia snapped. I didn't wait for her to disappear before I bent down to Jane.

"Guess it is nice for you to have a taste of your own medicine," I whispered sweetly to Jane as I grabbed her wrist firmly, feeling the satisfaction as fear shone in her eyes. "This is quite a nice hand that has obviously done nothing in the past centuries. Why don't I use it instead?"

Without waiting for a response, I ripped Jane's wrist off, the soft thump of her wrist onto the forest floor giving me immense pleasure. A soft rustle of leaves was the only sign that I heard over Jane's yell of pain that I had visitors.

"Jane is ours, Bella. We'll deal with her."

Ben and Angela stepped into the clearing, smirks on their face as they surveyed the scene around them. Angela suddenly leaped forward and grabbed Jane by her collar, releasing her from my grip as I jumped back. The friendly face of the Angela that I knew and loved disappeared as she parted her lips and revealed her glistening fangs to Jane.

"Don't think that you have ever needed to fight eh? Well, this is how you do it!" Angela tore off Jane's upper arm as Ben joined her, circling slowly around the shaking form of Jane as she looked for a way out, the situation the complete opposite of the scene that I had witnessed a century ago when Jane had returned to Forks to feed on Ben and Angela. I backed away slowly, feeling unnecessary in this fight. As I turned my head around to search for a fight to join, my foot stepped onto something hard. With my lighting fast vampire reactions, I managed to keep my balance and not fall onto the floor, but it was a close-run thing as I stumbled backwards.

I looked down and gasped in absolute horror at what I had stood on. Edward! He was once again lying on the ground, his head ripped off by Keenan and carelessly discarded on the fringe of the clearing. But it seemed that Keenan had either been distracted or couldn't be bothered to destroy Edward. Biting on my lip to prevent myself from sobbing, I used my shaking hands to fetch and then reattach Edward's head to his body. I now knew how Aria had felt when she had found us in the clearing. The pain. It was just as painful mentally as it was physically, as I felt it sharp numbness spread within my head.

"Edward, Edward, answer me, oh Edward," I gushed out in panic as Edward lay unresponsive on the ground. I felt my heaving breaths slow as Edward's eyes focused towards mine.

"Sorry you had to see that, Bella," Edward whispered as he rubbed his neck. "Keenan was way too fast for me. He got me, but before he left, he suddenly looked into the side of the forest leading away from the main battle, then after finishing me, he went in that direction. I think. Probably wasn't bothered with me because he reckoned that he would have no trouble if he fought me again. And he would be right. I was no match for him."

"Where is Felix? Aria? I haven't seen them since Jane entered the clearing," I asked. Edward sat up onto his knees, and in a swift motion helped me stand up.

"I don't know but Aria's scent leads deeper into the forest…Aria!" Edward exclaimed, eyes panicked. We both just then realised that Keenan had finished his battle with Edward to go after Aria, who had fled the moment Jane had arrived. And so had Felix.

"Wait, where is Amelia? She had said that she was going after Keenan!" I thought out loud, wondering where everyone was. Several metres from us, a new pyre of fire was blazing, as Angela and Ben casually threw pieces of Jane's body into the fire. At least they had had their revenge and finished Jane off. But the disappearance of the two Marches and the two Volturi warriors sent alarm bells ringing in my head.

"Ange! Ben! We need to get deeper into the forest!" I yelled out.

"I know," Ben said. "We didn't even see Aria and Felix but we smelt their fresh scents here. Amelia had originally gone after Keenan but changed direction mid-attack and instead turned into the forest."

I felt a pang of anger towards Amelia as I realised that she had just left Edward to his own devices against Keenan. But then I realised that her loyalty towards her daughter was stronger than any that she had with the Cullens. She was only fighting with the Cullens because she wanted revenge on the Volturi and was an old friend of Carlisle. And I would do anything to help Renesmee if something had happened to her. Amelia's bond with Aria would be even stronger. I understood that.

"C'mon!" Edward muttered irritated. After a swift motion of Edward's hand, we were suddenly off running, the intermingled scents of Aria and Felix giving us a clear path to follow.

"NO!"

The loud scream turned our attention to the battle that was happening in the small clearing that the scents of Aria and Felix led us to. Amelia and Aria were standing on one side of the clearing, Aria clutching the stump of her left hand, while Amelia was clearly holding her breath to avoid smelling the scent of her daughter. The blood that slowly slid its way down Aria's clothing and onto the forest floor was enticing, as the venom flowed in my mouth.

On the other side of the clearing, both Felix and Keenan were covered in specks of Aria's blood, and it was clear on their faces that they were relishing the scent. Neither one of them seemed to be under the mental control of Aria or Amelia, as Keenan licked his lips, clearing away a few smudges of Aria's blood.

Before either one of Edward, Angela, Ben and I could react, Felix dived directly at Amelia, both of them crashing into trees with several loud snaps of trees. Keenan had moved towards Aria, who was suddenly defenceless, and Edward let out a yell of pain, just before Keenan jumped forward and tore off Aria's head, Aria's body slamming into the ground dully. I was aware the moment that the thrumming of Aria's heart had stopped. Unlike a vampire, who would still be alive if their heads were ripped off, the half-humans seemed not to be that unbreakable. I stiffened as the wind blew the scent of Aria's blood towards me. The scent seemed even stronger now, as it tried to pull me into its warm embrace.

Keenan looked down at Aria's body then towards our frozen, horrified faces. Then he looked towards the trees with a disgusted, yet pleased expression as a scream of utter hate reached him from within.

"Find me if you can, you pretty little devil," Keenan sang softly in the direction to Amelia, before smirking at me once more and disappearing, his departing snigger ringing in my ears.

"Edward!" I cried out as I tried to go after Keenan. I didn't care about the fact that he could probably smash me to bits if he fought me. All I cared about was the fact that he had killed Aria, and it was just so easy to imagine Renesmee dead, her blood splattered on the floor. The thoughts of my daughter fuelled my anger as Edward and Ben held me back as I struggled to get free.

"You can't do anything for her," Ben whispered.

"Your daughter is dead, dead – ARGH!"

I watched with satisfaction as Felix flew out from the trees and landed hard on the ground, Amelia walking out of the forest with a dangerous calmness. I didn't know what feeling prompted it, but I sank into a defensive crouch, free from the suddenly loose grip of Edward and Ben as they both stiffened.

"It's Amelia. She feels just about poisonous," Angela said, her face cringing. It was clear that she wanted to leave.

"You, You…" Amelia's eyes were positively glowing as she stepped towards Felix, who was cowering at her feet, as she struggled to find words to say to him. "You dare to say that to my face, you Volturi fucker? Well, I know the response to that."

Felix screamed as Amelia unleashed the full force of her power on him. Suddenly, her hands snapped out, as she brutally twisted Felix's head and tore it off with a metallic tear. Within several dragged-out seconds, all that were at Amelia's feet were the torn up bits of Felix's body. I had stopped breathing from this sudden display of violence.

"Got any matches or something?" Amelia asked with a snarl as she turned towards us. Wordlessly, Edward threw her a lighter, which Amelia caught with a snap.

Amelia lit the quivering pile that was Felix, and within seconds, the flame caught and was soon burning merrily. Amelia looked at the pile for another ten seconds, before running to Aria's body.

"ARIA! Please, answer me," she cried, her menacing battle face slipping as she looked at Aria and slid to the ground.

"That fucking bastard. That son of a whore and maggots and all that is a fucking scum on this world, that…" Amelia continued yelling out, insulting every fibre and thing that she could think up of for Keenan. Some of the insults were in various other languages that I don't think that I had even heard of, but from the stunned look on Edward's face, I could guess that it was nothing nice. In fact, part of me wished I could insult someone like that. It could be a handy skill in the future if you really didn't like someone. I smiled at that thought, thinking of all the people that I would like to insult.

"Amelia," I whispered gently, my heart pouring out to the vampire that lay on the ground, screaming for her daughter, and yelling for vengeance on Keenan. I stepped forward and put one hand on her shoulder as she continued to yell out sharply, and was slightly surprised when she didn't remove my hand.

"I swear on my soul, Aria, that Keenan will have our vengeance. I swear that his last moments will be utter agony. It is all I can give you." Amelia's heaving breaths stilled as she gripped my hand and turned to look at me. Now that she seemed to have finished her initial grief, Amelia didn't seem to be able to look at Aria. Edward understood, as he gave Amelia a sympathetic look.

"I'll look after Aria," he said, as Angela joined me with Amelia.

"I don't need your sympathy," Amelia hissed. But from the defeated look on her face, I could tell that her heart wasn't in the words.

"Amelia," I said, gripping her shoulders firmly. Amelia's eyes, now returning to their normal burgundy, met mine. "You can let this pain consume you. You might think that I don't understand, but I know what it feels to have the love of your life torn from you. You swore vengeance on Keenan? Then live for that vengeance first as you mourn Aria. And what about Giselle and Roger, your other daughter and son-in-law? You aren't going to leave them are you?"

"No," Amelia whispered. "I can't." Amelia then looked at me, sighing. "I do need to look forward. For that advice I will thank you for. But now, I will channel my grief into destroying those fucking Volturi scum. Demetri…Caius…Aro…today is the day that they all will burn in their dark corner of hell. May their souls be treated like shit! I need, no must, return to the main battle with the werewolves. I need to fight!"

If it were any other person, I would've advised them not to. But for Amelia, I realised that it was her way of coping with things. She was a fighter, and it would be the only way that she could seek closure.

"Let's go. We are going to need you, Bella, to disable the other Volturi with special abilities. This isn't over yet," Angela announced, her grim determination mirrored on the faces of everyone in the clearing.

"No, it certainly isn't," Amelia whispered as her eyes suddenly flared up into a dangerous, glowing red.


	15. The Final Battle

**Wow. This story is now at Chapter 15 and very nearing the close of the story – if everything goes to plan there will only be one more chapter after this! I'm also sorry about uploading this chapter so late, but I have been so busy with exams that I've completely forgotten about uploading this chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 15 – The Final Battle

I had thought that the main clearing where the battle between the Volturi and the werewolves had looked bad earlier when I had first arrived. That was nothing. The scene that faced me looked more as if a bomb had exploded in the centre and an army of tanks had decided to arrive and raze down the whole thing just for fun over and over again. I couldn't extinguish friend from foe. I looked down at my wrist onto what remained of my watch, surprised that it was still working, and was shocked to realise that over an hour had passed since the Cullens and our allies joined the final battle to rid the world of the Volturi. Only an hour. It had felt so much longer.

Amelia beside me licked her lips in anticipation as she gazed with longing towards the centre of the battle.

"Go," Edward said, still holding Aria's body in his arms. "Stefan is waiting for you."

"Stefan?" Amelia asked, distracted by his sudden statement. Her bloodlust had faded the moment that Edward had mentioned Stefan. I hadn't noticed that there was a thing between them. Angela winked at me, noting by surprise.

"You both want Aro, Caius and Marcus dead right? He wants to do it with you, because he really wants to see them screaming and yelling in pain, but only if you hurry up. Just go," Edward replied, as he pointed to a small figure that stood several hundred metres away. Amelia didn't wait as she ran towards Stefan. Edward gently laid Aria's body onto the bloodied grass while making sure not to have to good a look at her. I could tell what he was thinking by the slight crease on his forehead.

"Bella?" Edward said, raising his eyebrow and motioning towards the battle with his hand.

"Oops," I muttered, as I found my shield within me and flung it over the clearing, this time making sure that it was firmly in place so no matter what happened, it would still be there and protect the others. The last time that I had forgotten to throw my shield over everyone else, Aria had gotten killed as a consequence. I refused to be responsible for the loss of anyone else again. My shield shimmered in response, as if it felt my emotions and was ready to hold steady to protect everyone.

The battle in front of us gained a new reality as a battle between Jasper and a Volturi warrior crept closer and closer to us. It was interesting to see the movements that the vampires made – I could tell from a short glance that Jasper's lightning fast attacks was getting past the strong defence of the Volturi warrior that he faced. The Volturi warrior was trying in vain to block Jasper's attacks, and realising that attack was probably a better defence, started to throw several hard blows at Jasper, his strength clearly beating Jasper's.

Edward chuckled as the Volturi warrior's attacks grew weaker and weaker. I gave him a significant glance, and Edward explained.

"Jasper is using is power to make the Volturi warrior feel more tired. His attacks are getting slower and slower. And look! Jasper has just won."

I wasn't surprised to see Jasper quickly dismembering the corpse of the vampire, before he took out a lighter and set the body on fire. Upon seeing us standing at the edge of the clearing, Jasper let out a sigh of relief as he approached us, his face pinched with annoyance.

"Where the hell were you all?" Jasper demanded. Next to me, Angela and Ben gave me several smirks, before successfully disappearing from right under Jasper's nose. Jasper was too focused on Edward to care.

"Alice had seen a vision where both of you were burning in a pyre of fire! Amelia and Aria left the moment that they heard, thinking that it was possible that Keenan was there, but when you still didn't return after they ran after you, Alice and I assumed that you were both dead. _Where were you?_"

I noted instantly that Jasper's anger stemmed from the fact that he thought that we had been killed. The Cullens were close enough that the loss of one member would impact the family heavily. Two would be…indescribable.

"Where is Renesmee?" I demanded, cutting off Jasper. Jasper felt my panic for a second before he looked down onto the ground and gasped.

"Is that…?" Jasper asked, shocked. There was a clear pain in his eyes, as well as astonishment.

"Yes," I said heavily. "What happened to Edward and I is a story that can wait another day, as it is something that you wouldn't want to hear or say too often. All I will say is that Aria and Amelia got involved and found us in time, and so did Jane, and both Keenan and Felix went after Aria. She's good, but not that good." I choked back a sob as I continued. "Amelia is currently killing off her grief by tearing apart any Volturi that she meets. But her goal is Keenan. He is the killer."

Jasper remained silent for a minute, before returning his steady gaze to the battle.

"I need to get back and fight. Bella, are you staying here with Edward to disable all the powers of the Volturi?"

"Yes. I'm surprised that I haven't been attacked yet," I replied, scanning the battle ground with my eyes, just in case someone decided to attack.

"Aro probably doesn't know that you are here, alive and kicking, seeing as he has this delighted demeanour on his face. From my guess, I bet he originally sent Felix and Keenan to finish you off. Their absence probably doesn't worry him at the moment."

"Renesmee?"

"Healthy and fine. She's with Jacob – he's too beat up to fight at the moment, and all the injured werewolves are at La Push. We've lost a few vampires and werewolves, but without Jane and Alec around, the battle has been going ok. Where is Jane, anyway?"

"Ange and Ben dealt with her. We also dealt with Felix. Keenan escaped."

Jasper frowned in annoyance, just as Demetri and another Volturi warrior simultaneously attacked us. The Volturi warrior had leapt straight at Jasper, throwing him high into the air and leaving the space clear and open.

Meanwhile, Demetri lunged straight for my throat, but I was prepared enough to give him a vicious shove. Demetri fell back and landed lightly in front of Edward, who immediately attacked him with all his strength. I watched as they began circling each other, testing each other's defences, and my need to protect Edward saw me join into the circle, testing the defences of Demetri, waiting for a hole to appear. Demetri was a strong fighter. But I was sure with Edward's mind reading and our fighting ability that we would both be able to beat Demetri. And I felt strong. The venom flowed thick but not heavily over my tongue. I felt every iota of strength in my body pulsing with the need to tear and destroy this vampire. Every part of my body was synchronised with Edward's. Demetri was a fighter, but there was no way that he could defeat both of us and our bond together.

The moment a slight hesitation appeared in Demetri's movement, Edward attacked, Demetri moving his arms furiously to block him. I ran rapidly behind Demetri and attacked him from behind, unsurprised when Demetri's arm flung back to push me off. My intention in that attack had not being to tear him to pieces, but to deliver a message. I was close enough to whisper in his ear.

"You know who is lying dead on the ground near us? Your daughter. And remember Amelia? She wants revenge. You're going to die, Demetri."

Demetri snarled and twisted rapidly, flinging Edward off and pouncing on me. I felt the strength that radiated down his arms as I held them back, knowing that eventually he would win. But there was more than enough time for Edward to pull Demetri off me. I felt a pang of pleasure when I heard the metallic tearing of a vampire being ripped apart, as I saw Demetri's arm fall to the ground.

"Oh." Amelia and Stefan stood several metres away from our battle. I marvelled at how Amelia had heard me mention Aria and herself and came to where I was immediately, knowing that there must have been a good reason why I would mention her. From the delight that grew on her face, I knew she would be more that satisfied to deal with Demetri.

"Stefan," Amelia said clearly as she approached Demetri. A horrified recognition spread across his face. Meanwhile, Edward had moved to stand next to me, as Stefan started circling around Demetri, preventing him from running, while shooting him cocky looks every now and then.

"This can't be possible. Not you," Demetri whispered. The look of horror on his face soon changed into a determined emptiness, as Amelia and Stefan attacked him.

"You planned that, didn't you?" Edward murmured to me, a smile of pride lighting up his face.

"Of course. I wasn't going to kill Demetri before Amelia could have a jab at him. Plus, I would like Amelia on my good side. She is one scary vampire to be on the wrong side on," I concluded.

As I turned my eyes away from the battle that continued between Stefan, Amelia and Demetri, I noted how empty the battle ground was. There were only ten or so battles continuing, with the field mainly littered with purple pyres of smoke, that were either fresh and towering towards the darkening sky, or spluttering as the body of the vampire that was being burned disappeared into ash.

"We aren't needed here," Edward said. "The battle is basically over. I can see Aro under the custody of Emmett and Jasper. Jasper certainly finished his fight quickly too. I didn't notice when he left."

"Caius and Marcus?" I asked, holding my breath.

"Amelia, Stefan and Vladimir dealt with Caius. Marcus was finished off by the Denalis as they tried to reach Caius. But when one of the Volturi guards nearly killed Carmen, the Denalis left before she could get killed, which is why they couldn't deal with Caius. It would've been their revenge for Irina all the years ago."

I felt sympathy for the Denalis as I remembered Irina. Caius had ordered her death a century ago when we last faced the Volturi, as he had hoped to provoke a fight with Irina's death. That plan had failed, but there was no saving Irina, who had burned as we stopped Tanya and Kate from starting the battle that would have resulted in our defeat.

I heard a loud yell from behind me as Demetri fell to the ground, Amelia and Stefan both looking down at him with identically condescending expressions.

"Just look at what a little thought can do. Now knowing what real pain feels like, it is just so easy to inflict it onto the weak minded, isn't it, Demetri? He's yours, Stefan. He isn't worth my time," Amelia said with a gentle, but slightly deranged grin. Stefan complied, bending onto his knees as he began tearing Demetri apart, Demetri probably not realising as Amelia kept the full force of her power on him.

Amelia stood next to us, watching, as Demetri's body soon went up into flames.

"We should go," I said gently. "We need to tidy this whole thing up." I bent down to pick up Aria's body, glad for the impending darkness that would soon hide the gruesomeness of her corpse.

Stefan walked towards Amelia and swung his arm over her shoulder, grinning. Near the fringe of the forest, Vladimir was standing and watching Stefan with an annoyed and surprised expression. I heard as he muttered several things in Romanian.

"What did he say?" I asked Edward as we walked towards Carlisle and the werewolves, who were waiting for us near the trail leading away from the clearing.

"I don't know. I have never learnt Romanian."

"You're kidding, right?"

"You wouldn't have wanted to know what I said any way." Vladimir said with a smirk as he silently appeared next to us. "I was cursing Stefan in some traditional Romanian way about how the hell that one of us, the survivors of the Romanian empire, could fall in love. I do not fathom it, even with our bitter enemy the Volturi destroyed. Love is supposedly for the weak."

"Mind your own business, Vladimir, or I will call you Vladdy," Stefan laughed from behind us. With the destruction of the Volturi, a new and freer side of the once scary Romanians came to light. I hadn't imagined that they were capable of joking. They were similar to Amelia in the way that both seemed to enjoy torture and other forms of bloodlust, both also had another nicer side to them. It was odd to take in, especially thinking for the last century that I should keep Nessie away from the dangerous Romanians after their comment about ripping the eyes out of the Volturi.

"Edward, Bella, Amelia," Carlisle said with relief as we reached him on the fringe of the forest. Stefan and Vladimir let out a small chuckle as Carlisle neglected to say their names.

I looked towards the shadow that was Aro.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked. Carlisle hesitated slightly before continuing.

"Well, firstly, we need to figure out what to do with Aro. Secondly, seeing as we kind of destroyed the Volturi," (there were even louder chuckles from the Romanians who obviously thought that Carlisle's use of the word 'kind' was funny) " we will need to find someone to replace them, because otherwise vampires around the world would let loose on humans or do some other thing of their own invention. The Volturi had a fine system with dealing with criminals, but it is when they acted out of their own greed and ambition that they lost their role of leaders and instead became just as bad as the criminals that they condemned.

"That is the most pressing matter in this situation, and as long as no one spreads the word on what has happened here today, we may still have about a month to think about it before the rest of the vampires realise that the Volturi have been defeated. But after that, we will need to announce new rulers, or the vampires that were once controlled by fear of the Volturi would let loose once again. We cannot have that."

Edward and the other Cullens nodded in agreement. From the shadows, Kate and Garrett stepped forward, their pale faces covered in dirt and in Kate's case, some werewolf blood as well.

"I have an opinion on what we should do," Kate said. Carlisle mentioned for her to continue.

"We cannot leave Aro alive. As long as he lives, so does the Volturi. Anyway, we can say that his death was due to his crimes like destroying innocent covens just so he could get some gifted vampires."

"That's true…" Carlisle muttered. I could see his hate for violence clashing with the need to see justice done.

"You shouldn't have any problems deciding."

Amelia's harsh voice matched the rigid outlines on her face. Beside her, various other vampires including Tanya stepped forward to support Amelia.

"The Volturi have hurt more than just covens that they have destroyed. They have torn apart and ruined the lives of certain humans unlucky enough to be chosen. I would know about that – I am a living example. Their love of power has clouded their judgement. That is all I will say," Amelia finished.

"That is all anyone needs to say. Aro must be destroyed, not just as penance for his crimes, but for those that have lost so much because of him. I lost a beloved sister," Tanya added, crossing her arms.

Carlisle seemed to have come to a decision.

"If there is anyone against the execution of Aro Volturi, speak now or forever hold your peace," Carlisle said warily. There was silence in the clearing. It was clear what everyone wanted.

"Jasper, Emmett?" Carlisle asked. Emmett's face lit up with excitement.

"I am more than ready to destroy Aro," Emmett announced while Jasper remained silent.

"I know you are," Carlisle smiled. "Edward, Tanya, Eleazar, stand guard near Jasper and Emmett. Make sure that Aro cannot escape."

During the entire conversation, Aro had remained impassive. But as Edward, Tanya and Eleazar came towards him and started circling him, a flash of fear crossed his face for the first time in several thousand years. Emmett cracked his knuckles as he smirked at Aro.

"Any last words?" Vladimir sniggered from outside the circle. Aro could only stand within the circle, his face frozen, as Jasper and Emmett approached.

It happened very quickly then. Jasper and Emmett pounced, and soon the only predominant sound in the bloodied clearing was a metallic tearing. Once the tearing stopped, a massive bonfire slowly sprung up, illuminating the dark evening sky and sending near-invisible piles of smoke into the air.

"It's over," I whispered to Edward, feeling free for the first time in ages. No longer did I need to worry about the Volturi. I could just concentrate on my love for Edward and my family.

"No it isn't." Amelia stood a metre away from the bonfire as she looked up into the sky. "It isn't over for me until Aria's killer is dead. It just isn't."

Amelia walked away from the clearing, Vladimir and Stefan following her into the darkness.

"Where are they going?" I asked Edward.

"Amelia has put up her painful get-out-of-my-head barrier again, but I can tell from my gleams that they aren't going far. Just a short hunt and they will be waiting for us at the house. Amelia isn't leaving until she has given Aria a proper farewell. And I think she will be inviting others as well," Edward said.

"Who did we lose?" a voice asked. As I looked for the source of the voice, I saw Rosalie come out with Emmett. Her question brought out a panic from within. Just who _did _die in the battle? I had seen many dead vampires and werewolves. Jacob may have been safe in La Push with Renesmee, but what about the other werewolves in his pack?

Carlisle hesitated. "I do not know exactly, but I do know that any vampires that were fighting on our side would have met here when the battle was finished. I got some numbers from Sam, and the werewolves have lost about seven or so werewolves, mainly the younger ones. As for the vampires…all of the Volturi apart from Keenan are dead. But no one has seen Benjamin and Tia in a while, and I believe that they may have been killed."

I felt the sadness rise within me. Benjamin and Tia had been through so much, and for them to have gotten killed in the last battle with the Volturi was sad news indeed. A part of me, however, rejoiced the fact that they would be reunited with Amun and Kebi, wherever the souls of dead vampires would go.

"Liam and one of those Amazons were killed as well. I saw them face off five Volturi warriors. They had no chance, but they killed all but one," Carmen said forlornly. Eleazar beside her gave her a quick hug as Tanya, Kate, and Garrett joined them.

"Can we meet you at the house?" Tanya asked.

Carlisle nodded. "We better talk at the house and clean up. Edward, can you stay back with me?"

I was loath to leave Edward behind just after our victory, but knowing what Carlisle had wanted him for, I didn't push it. Instead, I followed Ben and Angela as a whole host of vampires ran back to the Cullens' house.

It was a relief to just flop onto the Cullen's couch feeling clean and fresh. Upstairs, the mad fight to get into the showers were still continuing. Everyone was dirty after fighting against the Volturi and had all thought that the best way to deal with that problem was the take a shower. The shower helped to remove that sickly feeling that I had felt hovering over my head. The shower felt like the first step to cleansing myself of the Volturi, once and for all. It removed the feeling of death that seemed to have hovered around me.

"Bella!" Edward flung himself onto me the moment that he arrived home. Carlisle entered in seconds later, looking tired.

"How are you, Carlisle?" I managed to utter, despite the fact that Edward was smothering me in his tight hug.

"At least everything is sorted out. I had a talk with Sam and Jacob about us Cullens becoming the ruling family of the vampires, as I think it is the only possibility that can happen. They approved of my suggestion to make bases for us over the world, seeing as I don't think that everyone here would like to live in Forks. So if there is a problem in Ireland, it will be up to Siobhan to act quickly. Us Cullens will be the backup, and we can have our base here like the Volturi had Volterra. And this will continue over the globe. The fact that we defeated the Volturi will probably give us a strong reputation – we wouldn't have to work that hard to keep things such as the fights in the south under control. So that's one problem solved."

Carlisle slumped himself into a free chair, and for the first time, I could see the toll that the battle had on him. He may not have changed physically, but something inside of Carlisle had changed. There was something about the way his eyes looked. They seemed haunted with the loss of many, vampires and werewolves alike.

"So we still can move around the world, right, and go to high school and everything?" I asked, hopeful.

"Of course. The fact that the Cullens will be hard to find would add mystery to our name without us needing to use violence. As long as there is peace between vampires, we can live like we normally would, just that we have an extra responsibility to the vampire world."

I looked at Edward, feeling cheered up.

"Nessie is down at La Push at the moment and seeing as we don't seem to have any problems at the moment…" I started, giving Edward an eager expression.

Edward caught my expression and easily scooped me up into his arms.

"Come on Bella! We better get celebrating as soon as possible!"

Carlisle looked amused as we ran out the back door and into the darkness. Our free-spirited run through the forest to our small cottage enforced our feeling of freedom, with the wind whipping through my hair, and the darkness a comforting warm pillow that surrounded us. The moment we stepped over the threshold of the cottage, I felt my love for Edward take over my body, as we both tumbled to the floor, our passion and love for each other the only thoughts in my head.

**This chapter is lengthy and may be a little boring towards the end, but I needed to tie those ends up nicely didn't I? This isn't the end! There is one more chapter to go, to tie up ALL of the other loose ends and give our characters their hard-earned happily ever. And please spare a minute to review!**


	16. The Final Farewells

**This is the very last chapter of this stosry! I would just like to thank EVERYONE for reading this. It makes me feel encouraged whenever someone has reviewed or added my story to their favourites and so on. It gives me the encouragement to write and keep going. So, once again, thank you ALL! ( and please review if you can ****)**

Chapter 16 – The Final Farewells

I looked into the carved, antique wooden mirror as I tried to decide what to wear. A week ago this would have been the least of my worries. But with the Volturi gone, and a certain future set out for me, I could afford to worry about my appearance, especially with the fact that I was dressing for Aria's funeral. Today was also a farewell of sorts, as after the funeral, the Cullens would be in a mad taxi service trying to drive all of the other vampires staying at our house back to Seattle Airport. I sighed as I sat back down onto the soft double bed that rested in my room in the cottage that I shared with Edward.

"Alice will throw a fit if you are going to the funeral dressed like that," Edward said, grinning as he entered the room. I let out a low grumble at Edward's appearance, who was of course immaculately groomed and wearing a dark suit ensemble that enhanced his appearance (I mean, could Edward honestly look any better?), but also was dark enough to convey his respects an grief over the death of Aria and the other vampires that died in the battle with the Volturi. This ceremony may have mainly been arranged for Aria, but Carlisle was also planning to use this to remember the other vampires lost in the battle. A similar funeral would be held at La Push at around the same time to commemorate the lost werewolves.

"What will she do about it?" I mumbled in reply, and reluctantly followed Edward to our closet, where, of course, there was more than enough dresses to satisfy Alice's desire to see me 'well dressed'. I looked amongst the rows of dresses that hung in the closet for a black dress that hopefully, wasn't either too long or too silky and definitely not too fancy.

"Will this do?" Edward said, pulling out a bagged dress from a pile of at least ten other identically wrapped dresses.

"If you say so…" I replied, pulling down the zip. I was relieved to see that the dress was black, and while it was made of silk, it lacked embellishments and actually looked normal enough for me to wear. I gave Edward a wink of approval, before he slid out of the closet to give me some privacy. Slipping into the dress, I noted that it didn't feel too bad either.

Edward and I made back to the Cullen house by ten, where most of our family and the other vampires were waiting.

"Which funeral is Nessie going to?" Rosalie asked the moment that we entered the living room, arm in arm.

"She's going to see if she can go to both. She'll give Aria an eulogy, and run down to La Push to go to the werewolves' funeral," I said in reply. Carlisle looked at his watch before turning to the waiting vampires.

"It's about time. The church is in the forest, and ready," Carlisle said.

The church that Carlisle was referring to was one that Esme had built about a century ago when she had found the crumbling ruins of a building in the forest and decided to remodel it into a church. Edward had told me later that she had built it the same time that she had for our cottage, but we had never really visited it, because we found no need to. From what I understood, it was Emmett who had used the church the most, and definitely not for praying. Emmett's uses were more… destructive. Esme had needed to do some quick repairs so the church would be ready in time for the funeral.

I ran through the forest with Edward beside me, luxuriating in the utter feeling of freedom and bliss that I had felt. Even after a week, it glowed within me, strong and making me feel even more alive. Today would be a reminder of what had been lost to achieve this freedom.

The church was small and made of dull grey blocks, and was located in the centre of the lush forest clearing. It towered high up into the sky, but was low enough to be mistaken for tall, leafless tree if any humans happened to see it as they drove by the highway. However, while it was made of dull bricks, the doors were made of intricately carved ebony, and glittered faintly as the sun shone weakly through the clouds.

I hesistated at the door of the church, Edward beside me. The other vampires stood behind us, as Carlisle stepped forward. Stepping into the church would make the farewells more real, and final.

"Come in," he said, opening the ebony doors with a loud, dragged out creak. The interior of the church was revealed to be small, but cosy, with a central corridor than ran down the length of the church until it met the elevated stage, where a shimmering golden coffin stood, waiting, and was surrounded by flowers, and several photos of the vampires that had been lost. On either side of the main corridor were five rows of pews that smelled as if they had been created from the same ebony that was used for the door.

I hesitated at the door of the church, before stepping in. Edward and I were followed in by the rest of the vampires that were with us, as we walked down the central path that ran through the church, and onto one of the front pews. I looked at my watch. Amelia still wasn't here, and the funeral was about to begin.

"Sit down," Carlisle commanded. All of the vampires that fought against the Volturi, from the Cullens to the Denali's, to the Amazons, sat down, ready to commemorate the loss of the vampires that died in the battle. Liam. Tia. Benjamin. Senna. And Aria.

"I'm sorry we're late!" Amelia, Vladimir, Stefan and two other vampires had just banged open the front door of the church, appearing dramatically into the church.

I could tell immediately that the two new vampires were Amelia's other daughter Giselle and her husband Roger. There was something about the colour of Giselle's hair that matched Amelia's – even her smile was similar, despite the fact that it contained none of Amelia's maliciousness. Remembering what Amelia had said about Roger and Giselle being distantly related, I could see the resemblance in the shape of their face.

"It's no matter. Glad you could make it in time," Carlisle responded grinning. Amelia hesitated at the threshold as she stared at the coffin that lay in the middle of the stage of the church.

"Get a move on," Stefan hissed softly, nudging Amelia in the side. She jumped as if she were startled and walked towards where I was seated with Edward.

"You do not mind, then?" Giselle asked, her French accent clear as she pointed at the empty seats beside me.

"Of course not," Edward said smoothly, standing up and leading Giselle and Roger to their seats as Amelia hovered near Carlisle.

"May I begin?" Amelia said, a touch of a sob clouding the edge of her voice.

"Go for it," Carlisle smiled. Amelia took a deep breath before jumping gracefully onto the stage and facing the waiting vampires.

The funeral passed in the same sad, yet slightly uplifting manner. I found it sad farewelling all the vampires that I knew had been lost in battle, but I found it uplifting in the fact that I was honouring their sacrifice, and that they would never be forgotten. It had been so long since I had lost anyone that I knew that the feeling of loss felt foreign, but being a vampire for a century had helped me supress and dull the pain of the loss.

The loss felt heaviest when Renesmee had run into the funeral, puffed and her cheeks red, before giving her eulogy to Aria. It had felt so moving, and had shown how my daughter had felt towards Aria, and the sympathy within me had risen – I had barely known Aria but I had felt her loss – I couldn't even imagine how Amelia, her mother would feel. Her blank face and barely controlled anger reflected the strong inner pain that she felt.

It had been a relief when the funeral had finished, and just stepping out into the forest where it was drizzling slightly had made me feel more alive. Never again would I take immortality for granted. The cost was staring me in the face, with the loss of several of my friends. Never again.

"Edward!" I exclaimed the moment that we reached the living room of the Cullen house. Already I could see the other vampires getting ready to leave, but I was preoccupied with Edward. He not only seemed distracted, but I could clearly see him wincing every few seconds.

"What's wrong?"

"Amelia is," Edward muttered. Before I could ask what was wrong, I heard a noise that I had never heard before. It sounded as if someone was screaming, but the yell was so loud and filled with pain that it sounded more like a broken chainsaw. But underneath the scream, I thought I recognised the voice.

"Guess the problem with Keenan is solved, right?" Emmett smirked as he stepped towards us, laughing at the direction where I saw birds fluttering out of trees. I resisted the urge to cover my ears as the scream continued, feeling as if a drill was boring into my head.

"What the hell is happening?" Angela yelled from the kitchen.

"It's Amelia," Edward yelled back. "She found Keenan hanging around in the forest and is doing stuff to him that is seriously nauseating me! I didn't know vampires could even get nauseated, but she completely confirmed that fact!"

"What?" I snorted in amusement. Now that I had realised what was happening, the Keenan's scream didn't sound like a chainsaw. It sounded more like a classical that I had really wanted to hear for a very long time. After what Keenan had done to Aria as well as his attack on Edward and me, his screams seemed to satisfy my body's need for vengeance.

"You? Edward Cullen, get nauseated! What a joke!" Emmett chortled. "Imagine if Jacob was here! He would be begging Amelia, vampire or not, to join her in her games of fun!"

"Seriously Emmett, if you find this amusing we can trade heads. Amelia deliberately let me read her mind. She wants me to see this. For once, just once, it would be great if she could keep me out," Edward gritted.

The high agonised scream of pain stopped abruptly, sending waves of silence throughout the forest.

"Oh great," Edward moaned. "This isn't funny anymore. Bella, want to drive down to La Push to see Jake? But call him first and just check that we still have permission. If we don't, tell him that a crazy vampire is torturing another one and is gleefully showing me the torture through her mind, and we will come anyway. Ok with you?"

I let out another peal of laugher before reaching for my phone.

"Do you think that Stefan and Amelia will end up together? I can almost imagine their faces at the moment!" I said, letting out more giggles.

"You bet! The fighting dream team. They better send me videos!" Emmett laughed.

Edward gave him an icy glare before reaching into his pocket and throwing me his car keys.

"Let's go already!"

"No worries," I said, smiling. _This feel any better? _I projected images of Edward and me, together, and lost in our bliss of love into my mind, where Edward could hopefully read it and distract himself.

"Bella, I love you!" Edward cried out laughing. "You certainly can stop the most undesirable images that can ever exist in this whole world!"

Surrounded by Edward's laughter and his secure hug, I felt free and ready to take on my life. Forever to love Edward and certainly do whatever I liked. Forever.


End file.
